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Teacher Woke Up Thinking She'd Been Bitten By Something, But Had Actually Been Fatally Shot In Apparent Case Of Mistaken Identity
Nathan Joseph Quidetto, who was arrested in the death of Tracy Marie Squib, allegedly told Pennsylvania authorities that he'd meant to scare someone who was involved in a recent drug deal with him, but had the wrong home.
A Pennsylvania man has been arrested after allegedly firing into a suburban home earlier this month, killing a 52-year-old wife and mother as she slept, after mistaking her home for someone else's.
Nathan Joseph Quidetto, 20, was charged on Thursday with criminal homicide, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, carrying a firearm without a license, and reckless endangerment, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Oxygen.com. Quidetto's arrest came days after Tracy Marie Squib's July 20 death.
Squib, a mother of two, was asleep in her home in Derry Township when she was struck by a bullet, CBS Pittsburgh previously reported. Her husband stated that she woke him up to tell him that she'd been bitten by something, but when he turned on the light, he found that she was bleeding heavily from a wound on her upper chest, according to court documents obtained by the outlet. She was rushed to a local hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Quidetto was arrested two days later during a traffic stop in Hostetter on drug-related charges but later allegedly admitted to the shooting, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. He allegedly said that he drove to the home at around 4 a.m. on Monday and got out of the car and fired multiple shots at the house before fleeing. However, Quidetto hadn't intended to harm the Squibs; he'd been involved in a drug deal gone wrong and was targeting someone else, police said during a press conference last week.
"It had nothing to do with the Squibs," Pennsylvania State Police trooper Steve Limani said. "Mr. Quidetto was involved in what would be described as maybe a botched drug transaction, where he was trying to scare somebody and had the completely wrong residence, not even close to being at the right house, and that was the nature of why he fired at the house."
"He had no idea who this family was. This had nothing to do with this family whatsoever and it's just tragic," he continued.
Squib's two children were also in the home at the time of the shooting, but were not harmed, multiple outlets reported. Quidetto is currently being held without bond at the Westmoreland County Prison, according to The Tribune-Review.
Pennsylvania Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Oxygen.com.
Squib taught preschool and kindergarten at Grace Bible Church for a number of years, CBS Pittsburgh reported. Pastor Jason Losier described her as someone who was "full of life," a sentiment echoed by others who knew her.
“Helpful in any way, fun to be around," co-worker and friend Nikki Updegraff told the outlet. "You could call her in the middle of the night because she would be there if you needed her."
