A Pennsylvania man is accused of killing an Uber driver who vanished last week in what authorities described Friday as a fatal robbery.
Calvin Crew, 22, was charged with criminal homicide, robbery and tampering with evidence in the death of Christina Spicuzza, 38, Allegheny County criminal court records show.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC affiliate WPXI of Pittsburgh, a dash cam inside Spicuzza's car captured Crew allegedly pointing a gun at her neck as she drove and told him: "I'm begging you, I have four kids."
Reading from a prepared statement Friday, Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns told reporters that Spicuzza disappeared Feb. 10 after driving for Uber.
She died from a single gunshot wound, he said. After the killing, Crew allegedly tried to access Spicuzza's banking apps to transfer money to his girlfriend's phone, WPXI reported, citing the complaint.
Authorities said Friday that they were consulting with prosecutors over possible charges against the girlfriend, who was not identified.
An Amazon driver spotted Spicuzza's body Saturday in a wooded area roughly 40 feet from a road in suburban Pittsburgh, Monroeville Police Chief Doug Cole told reporters. Her Nissan Sentra was found 2 miles away in Pitcairn.
Allegheny County Assistant Police Superintendent Victor Joseph told reporters that Crew allegedly shut off the dash cam and threw it from Spicuzza's car.
A detective later found it near where the Uber trip ended, Joseph said. Investigators had amassed a "vast amount of evidence" before they found the camera, but locating the device was "critical" to the case, he said.
Crew was taken into custody Thursday and denied bond during an initial court appearance. It wasn't clear if he has a lawyer.
In a statement to WXPI, Spicuzza's fiance, Brandon Marto, said other female Uber drivers had reached out to him to say they believe the company provides insufficient safety measures.
He noted that he had received no condolences from the company and said: "In the first extremely critical hours of my wife’s disappearance, when every second mattered, I feel that I could not have received less help from Uber, even though I was attempting to move mountains to find Christi."
"I don’t want to see this happen to someone else’s sister, daughter or wife," he added. "Uber needs to protect its drivers more and it starts here with Christi."
An Uber spokesman said Friday that "no family should have to suffer such an unimaginable loss and our thoughts are with Christi’s loved ones during this difficult time. We’ve been in touch with law enforcement to support the investigation and are grateful for everything they’ve done.”
The spokesman also pointed to comments from Friday's news conference in which Joseph praised the company, saying Uber had been "extremely helpful" and provided "invaluable information" to authorities.
Uber launched an emergency call pilot project in 2018 allowing users to share their location and trip details with 911 dispatchers by pressing a button within the app.
The project began in Denver and expanded to 60 cities and counties in the United States the following year, the company said. The feature is available in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, the spokesman said.