A Pennsylvania man has been handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for the chilling murder of an Uber driver who pleaded for her life during her final moments.
Calvin Crew, 25, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2022 killing of 38-year-old Christina Spicuzza, a beloved mother of four.
Spicuzza’s final moments were captured on her vehicle’s dashboard camera, which showed Crew pulling a gun on her during a ride she was giving him. The heartbreaking footage revealed her desperately begging to be spared, telling him she had a family.
Crew was found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this year, and while the death penalty was initially on the table, the victim’s family urged the court to spare his life. In addition to the life sentence, he received another 13 to 26 years for charges related to kidnapping and robbery.
“You deserved the death penalty, but we chose mercy,” said Cindy Spicuzza, the victim’s mother. “You showed no mercy, no remorse. What you did was pure evil.”
Crew declined to appear in court for his sentencing. His attorney claims he is innocent and plans to file an appeal.
“Just a coward,” said Spicuzza’s partner, Brandon Marto. “A coward who couldn’t even face us.”
On February 10, 2022, Crew had ordered an Uber ride using his girlfriend’s phone. When Spicuzza picked him up, he pulled a gun on her and demanded she continue driving. Four seconds after he aimed the weapon at her head, she reached back, touched the gun, and said, “You’ve got to be joking.”
She pleaded with him, saying, “I’m begging you. I have four kids.” Crew replied coldly, “I’ve got a family too. Now drive.”
Court documents say he ignored her repeated pleas to put the gun down and eventually reached forward to snatch her phone. “Do what I say and everything will be all right,” he told her, before disabling the dash cam.
Spicuzza’s body was discovered in a wooded area with a single gunshot wound to the back of her head. A 9mm shell casing was found nearby. Her dash cam was recovered shortly afterward, and its footage became a key piece of evidence.
Crew, a convicted felon from past juvenile offenses, was not legally allowed to carry a firearm. Just days before a warrant was issued for the murder, he had been arrested on separate weapons charges from an earlier incident in 2020.
Spicuzza’s family remembers her as a joyful and loving mother who spread kindness and light to everyone around her. “Christi was always smiling, always positive, and always loving,” her obituary read.
