Lawyer: No evidence to support homicide charge in Derry mother's shooting death

The lawyer for a Unity man accused in the shooting death of a Derry mother contends murder charges should be dismissed for a lack of evidence.

Police contend Nathan Quidetto, 21, sought revenge for a drug deal gone awry when at 4 a.m. July 20 he fired shots into a Pandora Road home as 52-year-old Tracy Marie Squib, her husband and two children slept inside.

Investigators said the shots were fired into the wrong home as no one in the Squib residence was involved in a drug deal with Quidetto.

Police said Squib was sleeping in her bed and when she awoke, she initially thought she had been bitten by something. She was found bleeding from her upper chest and family members called for help. She later died at a hospital. Her husband and two children were not injured.

Quidetto was charged with criminal homicide, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, carrying a firearm without a license and multiple reckless endangerment offenses.

According to court records, Quidetto told investigators he fired several rounds in the direction of the house in retaliation and then fled. He was arrested two days later during a traffic stop and detained on an outstanding warrant on drug offenses.

Defense attorney Emily Smarto in court documents filed this week said there was insufficient evidence support the homicide charge. She also is seeking to bar Quidetto’s confession to police, claiming three interrogations were improperly conducted.

Without Quidetto’s confession, there is no other evidence to support the charges, Smarto said in the court motion. Following a preliminary hearing last summer, Smarto suggested Quidetto fired random shots and did not have an intent to kill.

Quidetto has been held in the county jail without bond since his arrest.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said a hearing on the pretrial motions will be scheduled next month.