A man was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release for the murder of a Pennsylvania Uber driver.
Calvin Crew was charged with homicide, robbery, and tampering with evidence just days after Christina Spicuzza was killed on February 10, 2022, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE at the time. Dashcam footage published after the event revealed that the 38-year-old mother of four had begged for her life.
He was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping to accomplish a felony, evidence tampering, and firearm charges in February 2025, according to WTAE.
Crew, 25, declined to appear for his sentence at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh on Monday, May 5, leaving his defense attorney to speak on his behalf. According to reports from WTAE, WPXI, and CBS News, he maintains his innocence and plans to fight his sentence.
According to CBS Pittsburgh, Crew “lived a childhood surrounded by violence and neglect” and was “intellectually and socially challenged,” according to his defense attorney, Adam Reynolds.
While he was previously facing the death penalty for Spicuzza’s execution-style killing, her family requested that prosecutors seek life in prison instead, citing the mother-of-four’s “religious beliefs,” according to CBS News.
WTAE reports that Crew’s sentence includes an additional 13 to 26 years in jail.
Despite Crew’s absence from his sentence hearing, victim impact statements were read in court on Monday.
“You should have received the death penalty, but we showed mercy,” Spicuzza’s mother Cindy Spicuzza told WTAE.
Christina’s life partner, Brandon Marto, described Crew as “a coward who could not be here today to face this.”
He said tearfully, “Christy was everything to my family. I was disoriented and out of control. “She saw something in me,” CBS News reports.
The victim’s sister also stepped out, highlighting that her four children would never see their mother again, according to the site.
According to the 2022 criminal complaint, Crew allegedly ordered an Uber with his girlfriend’s phone and then drew a revolver on Spicuzza inside.
“Come on, I have a family,” Spicuzza stated in a transcript of the dashcam tape, before adding, “I am begging you, I have four kids.”
Spicuzza was found dead in a wooded region in Monroeville on February 12, 2022, from a gunshot wound to the head. The dashcam film was discovered days later, near where Crew had allegedly requested to be left off.