On the morning of July 18, 2019, the life of 33-year-old Antone Shantel Suggs, a Black female from Baltimore, Maryland, was tragically cut short. In the early hours, starting around 5:50 a.m., a man named Calvin McCrea was seen on video surveillance outside an apartment building on Stafford Street. For about three hours, he was observed coming and going in a white Cadillac and making several phone calls.
An argument erupted between McCrea and Suggs, a woman with whom he had been in an on-again, off-again relationship for 23 years.
The verbal altercation escalated with fatal consequences. McCrea shot Suggs three times at close range. Suggs' own son witnessed the loud argument between his mother and McCrea from his room in their apartment, though he did not see the shooting itself, he heard the gunshots. In an attempt to mislead investigators and distance himself from the crime, McCrea repeatedly called Suggs' cell phone ten times after he had already killed her.
Law enforcement officials later apprehended Calvin McCrea in Richmond, Virginia. He was brought to trial, and on March 31, 2023, a jury found the 39-year-old guilty of second-degree murder, firearm use in a felony violent crime, firearm possession with a felony conviction, and having a handgun on his person. During the trial, the prosecution detailed McCrea's actions on the day of the murder, using video surveillance and phone records as evidence. The defense attorney argued that the testimony of Suggs' son was inconsistent and that he never actually saw McCrea shoot his mother.
On July 21, 2023, Calvin McCrea was sentenced for the murder of Antone Suggs. He received a total of 75 years in prison, which included 40 years for second-degree murder and a consecutive 20 years for the use of a firearm in a violent crime, with the first five years to be served without the possibility of parole. He also received a consecutive 15-year sentence for firearm possession with a felony conviction. At the sentencing, family members, including Suggs' aunt, spoke of the profound loss of the mother of two young children.
