Christi Spicuzza was the Uber driver who was killed in Pittsburgh. Calvin Anthony Crew has been arrested in the case and charged with homicide.
Christina Spicuzza was a 38-year-old mother of four whose last minutes were recorded on a dashcam video her fiance bought her to use while she was working for Uber. Police said that video was instrumental in identifying the suspect, who had no prior connection to the victim.
Spicuzza, of Turtle Creek, was reported missing when she did not return home from an Uber shift. Her body was found on a hillside days later in Monroeville, a Pittsburgh suburb, police said.
Crew, 22, is charged with criminal homicide, robbery, robbery of motor vehicle, firearms not to be carried without a license, person not to possess a firearm and tampering with physical evidence, according to the docket sheet in his case.
Spicuzza, 38, was working for Uber February 10, 2022, when her family last heard from her, according to the criminal complaint filed in Crew’s case. Her fiance reported her missing the next day, police said, and her body was found in a wooded area February 12. An autopsy determined she died from a gunshot wound to the back of her head. Her cause of death was listed as homicide.
Police wrote in court documents that she was found lying facedown, wearing a face mask, and a 9-mm shell casing was found near her body. Her vehicle was found in Pitcairn earlier that day, police said.
Crew has a criminal history dating back to his youth, and is facing firearms charges in a separate active criminal case, court records show. He was arrested in that case days before the homicide warrant was issued.
Charges were filed by the Allegheny Police Department. Crew was arraigned at 2:45 a.m. Friday, February 18, before on-call Magisterial District Judge Robert Paul Dzvonick, who denied bail in his case.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Spicuzza Had 4 Children & She Was Engaged to a Man Who Says He Must Stay Strong for Their Children
“I’m begging you, I have 4 kids.”
Criminal complaint reveals those were some of the last words Christi Spicuzza said to the man who’s accused of murdering her. 22 yr old Calvin Crew is currently in the Allegheny County Jail. @WPXI
MORE DETAILS –
Spicuzza was a mother of four who “was taken from her family,” her obituary says. Her children are named Andrea, Drew, Scotty, and Tori.
“Christi was first and foremost a loving mother,” her obituary says.
She will be laid to rest on Monday, February 21, 2022 in her hometown of Monroeville. Spiccuza was engaged to Brandon Marto, her obituary says.
She had three brothers and a sister, and also leaves behind her parents and other family members.
Marto wrote on Facebook that he was “completely broken and horrified.” But he said that he was determined to get through the painful loss to support his children.
The post says:
I want to respond to everyone who reached out personally, but I’m just too emotionally drained. Thank you. For now I am sincerely asking for prayers. For my children to not hurt emotionally, and for me to have the strength to get thru this for my children. I am completely broken and horrified. I’m so lost without her. But I want everyone to know that I WILL be okay because I know my kids need me. I may reach out to any one of you at any moment if I’m struggling, but I just wanted to let you all know I’m so greatful for the prayers and support. Truly, truly, truly. Thank you.
2. Spicuzza’s Fiance Posted Frantically on Facebook Asking for Help to Find Her
A 22-year-old man from Penn Hills man was charged by police in the killing of 38-year-old Uber driver Christi Spicuzza, who was found dead in Monroeville this weekend.
Marto also posted on Facebook the day he reported her missing. At the time, her body had not yet been found, and he said he was holding out hope that she was still alive. But he feared the worst because her purse was found in the vehicle.
“Im holding out hope that Christi will be home soon, but I’m so scared because inside the car was her purse, and she NEVER NEVER EVER would leave her purse in the car. This pain is unreal,” he wrote.
She would check in with him every hour while she was working, he wrote, but said that he had not heard from her after she told him she was going on lifts for Uber. After he last heard from her, he wrote, he put their kids to bed and fell asleep with them. He woke up at 4 a.m. to discover there was no word from her.
“This is incredibly out of character for her. She would never not check in. And now close to 24 hours later, I would have heard from her if everything was OK,” he wrote.
3. Spicuzza’s Fiance Bought Her a Dashcam That Recorded Her Last Minutes Alive
NOW: hearing from County Police regarding arrest in Christi Spicuzza’s death @WPXI
A dashcam Spicuzza’s fiance bought her helped lead to the arrest of the suspect, according to the criminal complaint filed in Crew’s case. The dashcam was found during a canvas of the area on February 17, shortly before police issued an arrest warrant for Crew. A detective found the camera one-tenth of a mile from the Uber pickup spot in Penn Hills, police said. Police viewed the footage from a mini SD card in the camera, which recorded audio and video from the front and back of the car, court paperwork says.
The video shows a person in dark clothing with a hood up approaching the vehicle from 139 Brinton Avenue at 9:14 p.m., court documents said. Spicuzza says the name of the first name of the person who ordered the Uber, who police said is Crew’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Tanaya Mullen of Pitcairn. Mullen has not been charged in the case.
Crew does not respond to Spicuzza, police wrote in court documents.
When the Uber approaches the dropoff point at 9:33 p.m., police said Crew pulled out a gun and leaned toward Spicuzza, placing his hand on her left shoulder.
“Keep driving,” he tells her, according to court documents.
NEW: we just received the mugshot for Calvin Crew, the man charged in Christi Spicuzza’s death @WPXI
At 9:33, four seconds after police allege Crew pointed a gun at Spicuzza, she reaches up and touches the gun, according to video police summarized in the affidavit of probable cause filed in his case.
“You’ve got to be joking,” she says, according to police.
“It’s a gun,” he replies.
“Come on, I have a family,” she says.
“I got a family too. Now drive,” he says.
“I’m begging you, I have four kids,” police said she told Crew.
Police said he told her multiple times to “complete the trip,” and at one point grabbed her ponytail to control her head.
“Please take that off of me,” Spicuzza says at 9:34, according to police.
“Do what, I say and everything will be alright,” Crew responded, according to police.
Police allege he took her cellphone from the dashboard.
The video ends at 9:34 and 48 seconds when the man police identified as Crew reaches forward and grabs the camera.
Calvin Crew, 22, was arrested Thursday in Penn Hills for his alleged involvement in the death of Christina Spicuzza of Turtle Creek, according to Allegheny County Police.
Crew’s charges indicate he was an adjudicated delinquent who was not permitted to possess a firearm. The statute under which Crew was charged outlaws the possession of a firearm following adjudication on certain serious offenses committed as a juvenile.
Crew was also arrested days before the homicide warrant was filed, according to court records. The Northern Regional Police Department arrested Crew February 15 in a case filed December 8, 2021, in Marshall Township Pennsylvania. In that case, he faces a felony related to the sale and transfer of firearms and a misdemeanor of unsworn falsification to authorities. Police allege he committed the crimes September 10, 2020.
He was arraigned on those charges and released on his own recognizance, court documents indicate.
A search of criminal records indicates he has not faced any other criminal charges as an adult in Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County Police Department Superintendent Christopher Kearns said in a press conference that police believe Crew’s motive was robbery. Crew had no prior connection to Spicuzza, Kearns said, which he described as unusual in a homicide case.
4. Spicuzza Loved Crafting & Bible Studies; Her Family Says She Was Always Smiling
Allegheny County Police is set to hold a press conference shortly about the arrest of 22-year-old Calvin Crew. He was arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Uber driver Christina Spicuzza. @WTAE
Spicuzza’s obituary paints a picture of a tenderhearted woman dedicated to her family. It said she loved her children above everything else.
“She also enjoyed art, crafting, and her bible study. Anyone who knew Christi knew her smile could light up every room she was in. No matter what was going on in her life, Christi was always smiling, always positive, and always loving,” her obituary says.
As a part of the investigation, police contacted Crew’s girlfriend February 14 and asked to speak with her. She went to the Penn Hills police station, bringing Crew with her, police wrote in court documents.
She said Crew called her February 10 and asked her to call an Uber for him. She was in Swissvale at the time, she told police, and he gave her an address to type into the Uber app for the ride request.
Police interviewed the girlfriend a second time, and she told police her gun was missing. She had purchased the 9-mm gun at a McKeesport gun shop. She told police she believed Crew was the only person who could have taken the gun, according to court documents. Police went to her home to collect evidence, but the gun box and paperwork were not there, police said.
5. Spicuzza’s Family Was ‘Happy & Relieved’ After the Arrest Was Made
Police said in a press conference announcing Crew’s arrest that the family did not make any official media statements, but that they were pleased to learn of the arrest.
“When detectives spoke to [Ms. Spicuzza’s] family members last night, they were happy and relieved,” Allegheny County Police Department Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph said.
When police questioned Crew about his activities the night of the murder, he claimed that he got out of the Uber, walked to a Wilkinsburg bus station and took the Trafford bus to Pitcairn, according to court documents. Police reviewed surveillance footage from the bus station, and did not see anyone matching his description, police said.
Police wrote in court documents that they gathered trip information from Uber, which indicated Spicuzza’s last trip began at about 9 p.m., starting at Brinton Road. They also collected her cellphone into evidence after a person working along the railroad tracks under the TriBoro Expressway called police to say he found a phone. It was a pink cellphone with a cracked screen, police wrote.
Police were able to obtain information from the phone that showed the last locations she traveled, and when it stopped tracking her location, police wrote. Her license plate was also recorded on plate readers at several locations near the TriBoro Expressway, police said.
Crew’s preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for 8 a.m. February 25 before Magisterial District Judge Kim Berkeley Clark. Clark is the judge assigned to the case.
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