Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Uber Driver's Dashcam Helps Convict Her Killer | Crime Alert 05.14.25

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

Uber Driver's dashcam captures last moments begging for her life when passenger pulls a gun. Historic cannon destroyed...to pay a drug debt? For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Uber driver Christina Pazuzza, 38, reported missing when she doesn't come home after a shift. Her body found in Monroeville, Pennsylvania the next day, car abandoned in Pitcairn. Police investigate and learn that a man named Calvin Cruz's

girlfriend ordered Christina's last Uber drive. Dashcam captures the nightmare, which began just 10 minutes into the ride. Hi, Virginia. How are you today? Christina greets Cruz as he silently takes a seat in the back of her car. Then Cruz slides to the center of the back seat and presses a gun to Christina's head. You've got to be joking. Keep driving. What are you doing?

This is a gun. Keep driving. No, it's not. Stop. Come on, man. I've got a family. What are you doing? I've got a family, too, and I'll drive. What are you doing? Drive. Please stop. Drive the car, miss. Please, I'm begging you.

I'm begging you. I have four kids. What are you doing. Drive the car, miss. Please, I'm begging you. I have four kids. What are you doing? Crew forces Christina to drive for over an hour as the mom of four begged for her life. Please take that off of me. Please. No. Keep driving.

Do what I say and everything will be all right. Police say after crew tells Christina, quote, just do what I say and everything will be fine, he marches her into the woods, then shoots her once in the head. He will now spend the rest of his life behind bars on murder one. Gordon Pierce III, 37, bribes a homeless man with drugs to help him steal an 800-pound historic cannon, Wichita. Why? Pierce needed to pay off a $20,000 drug debt. He plans to sell the copper in the cannon, so he cuts the cannon into five pieces to sell the metal for scrap, but Pierce can't sell the copper because he doesn't have

a specific ID required to sell scrap metal in Kansas. Needless to say, when Pierce takes the pieces to his dealer's house's payment, the dealer is not happy. Terrified, Pierce confesses to his mother and falls asleep. When he wakes up, police are there. Gordon Pierce on a $200,000 bond for theft, aggravated criminal damage to property, and possession of drug paraphernalia. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In Michigan, a mistrial has been declared in the second-degree murder case of former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Scherr after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Scher was charged in the 2022 shooting of Patrick Leola,

a 26-year-old black man and Congolese immigrant, killed during a traffic stop. Police body cam video showed Scher firing a single shot into the back of Leola's head while attempting to make an arrest. The case sparked weeks of protest in Grand Rapids and drew national scrutiny, especially after the release of video evidence by police chief Eric Winstrom. Leola's father, Peter Leola, speaking through an interpreter, said the family is heartbroken and vowed to continue seeking justice. Defense attorney Matthew Borgula said most jurors appeared to favor acquittal.

There's no victory, he told reporters. A man died. That matters. The mistrial comes one day after three former officers in Memphis, Tennessee, were acquitted in the fatal beating of Tyree Nichols, raising new questions about accountability in cases involving police use of force. Prosecutors have not yet announced whether Scher will be retried. A controversial execution in South Carolina is raising questions about how it was carried out. Crime Online's Sydney Sumner has details. On April 11, 2025, 42-year-old death row inmate Mikal Madi was executed by firing squad at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. Convicted of the 2004 murder of off-duty police officer James Myers in Calhoun County,

Motti had chosen the firing squad over lethal injection or electrocution. But a report by forensic pathologist Dr. Jonathan Arden, retained by Motti's attorneys, suggests the execution may have been botched. Arden's analysis, based on a limited autopsy that included only one photograph and no examination of Mahdi's clothing, found just two distinct bullet wounds. That raises concerns that one of the three shooters may have missed the intended target over Mahdi's heart or that the target itself was misaligned. According to Arden, the result was a prolonged death. He estimates Mahdi may have remained conscious for 30 to 60 seconds, up to four times longer than expected, suffering intense pain from collapsed lungs, fractured ribs, and a shattered sternum.

South Carolina Department of Corrections spokesperson Christy Shane said all three bullets were believed to have struck Mahdi, with two entering at nearly the same point, something seen before in training scenarios from the standard 15-foot distance. Mahdi's attorneys argue the state failed in its duty to carry out the procedure humanely and have submitted Arden's findings to the South Carolina Supreme Court for review. Thanks, John. Stephanie Womack, 52, camping with her husband, goes for a hike, Table Rock State Park, Pekin, South Carolina. When the husband leaves to get supplies, Stephanie spotted at White Oak Campground 6 p.m., then never seen again. Wearing a brown hoodie with the word WITHGAP printed in pink letters, jeans, black tennis shoes, 5 feet tall, 100 pounds. If you have info on Stephanie Womack's, please contact Pickens County, South Carolina Sheriff's Office, 864-898-5500.

For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. And please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.