Mum-of-four Christina Spicuzza was trying to earn some extra cash when she was brutally kidnapped and shot xxxx
Mum-of-four Christina Spicuzza, 38, was working as an Uber driver to make some extra money for her family. She was engaged to her partner Brandon Marto, and they lived in Monroeville, Pennsylvania with Christina’s four children.
Christina, known as Christi by loved ones, had been with Brandon eight years. Their relationship had a rocky start because Brandon had struggled with alcohol addiction. But, typical of Christina’s compassionate character, she supported him through, and the couple were stronger than ever. Brandon had vowed to spend the rest of their lives making it up to her.
On the night of 10 February 2022, Uber driver Christina headed off in her silver Nissan for a busy Friday shift. At 9.15pm, she picked up a male passenger dressed in a dark sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head and also wearing a face mask– as part of the Covid protocol at the time. His name was Calvin Crew.
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As Christina set off from Pitcairn for Penn Hills, Crew, 22, suddenly pulled out a gun and pressed it to the back of her head. Christina reached around to see what it was and felt the weapon. Dashcam footage was recording the terrifying ride in video and audio.
“You’ve got to be joking,” Christina said, before realising the severity of the situation. Crew grabbed hold of her ponytail tightly and told her to keep driving. The atmosphere in the car changed, as Christina began to fear for her life.
“Come on, I have a family,” Christina pleaded. “I’m begging you. I have four kids.” Crew replied, “I got a family too.” Then he told her to keep driving as he snatched her phone.
Christina begged him several times to remove the gun from her head. “Please take that off of me,” she pleaded.
“Do what I say, and everything will be alright,” he responded. Suddenly, at 9.34pm, Crew spotted the dashcam in the car. He reached out and grabbed it – which is when the recording stopped.
That night, when Christina didn’t return from work, her worried fiancé reported her missing. Police found Christina’s abandoned car the following morning but there was no sign of the mum – and without the dashcam, there was no evidence of her kidnapping.
Tragically, later that day, a member of the public reported finding the body of a woman in woodland in Monroeville. It was Christina. She had been killed with a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. A 9mm casing lay close by.
Christina’s loved ones were heartbroken. At her home, a makeshift memorial grew with candles and flowers, while the community were in shock that someone had been killed in cold blood on their doorstep.
Criminal record
Investigators found the dashcam close to where Crew had wanted to be dropped off. The harrowing footage of Christina’s terror ride was examined, and police finally had a picture of what had happened that night.
Crew was arrested. He had a criminal record and was banned from owning a firearm due to the seriousness of his offences as a juvenile.
Crew claimed that Christina had taken him to where he wanted to go and he’d got out of the car, leaving her alive, and then got a bus later that night. But the dashcam footage was damning and no surveillance captured him getting on or off a bus. He was charged with murder, robbery and tampering with evidence.
At first, Crew was facing the death penalty, but Christina’s family asked the prosecution to make the maximum sentence life in prison without parole because of Christina’s religious beliefs. Her compassion continued to shine from beyond the grave.
At the trial this year, prosecutors told the court that Christina had been kidnapped, and GPS proved she had been forced to drive through several neighbourhoods for an hour. The dashcam footage was played and the horror of her final moments was clear to see. Christina had begged for her life and Crew had told her she just had to do what he said – but he killed her anyway.
It’s unclear what happened when Christina finally stopped the vehicle. The prosecution said it was likely that Crew had marched her into the woods and shot her in the head. Afterwards, he’d accessed several payment and banking apps on Christina’s phone to get money.
Overwhelming evidence
During the trial, the jury were given overwhelming digital evidence of the events. Crew’s girlfriend at the time testified that Crew had booked the Uber ride on her account. There was the dashcam footage from inside the car, clearly showing Crew holding a gun to Christina’s head. His fingerprint was in the car and mobile phone GPS records mapped the movements.
The jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding Crew guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, evidence tampering and firearm charges. The judge noted that the verdict had come three years to the day that Christina had been killed.
At the sentencing, Christina’s family were given the chance to share their victim impact statements. Crew refused to attend – which fuelled the anger in the court even more.
Brandon said that Crew was a “coward who couldn’t be here today to face this”. He added, “Christi was everything to me.”
Christina’s mum, Cindy Spicuzza, reminded Crew of his victim’s compassion. “You should have the death penalty, but we showed mercy,” she said, because of Christina’s religious beliefs. “You executed her. No mercy, no remorse. It was abhorrent. It was murder.” Now four children had lost their mother.
Crew’s lawyer said that he had lived a “childhood surrounded by violence and neglect” and was “intellectually and socially challenged”. Crew, now 25,was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. He was given an additional 13 to 26 years for kidnapping and robbery. Crew insists he is innocent and plans on appealing his sentence.
Christina had simply been trying to make some extra money and had been kidnapped and executed. Her murder raised conversations about the safety of Uber drivers and whether vehicles should have barriers between the front and the back for added protection against the strangers they pick up. Christina’s death was deeply shocking.
A predator got into her car and stole her future.