Police in Florida believe an Amazon Alexa device could be the number one witness in a murder investigation, after the virtual assistant reportedly overheard details of a violent altercation.
Silvia Galva was found dead at her home in Hallandale Beach, Florida, on July 12 this year after suffering a fatal spear injury in her chest. She was 32 years old.
The victim had been on a night out with her boyfriend, 43-year-old Adam Crespo, before the couple reportedly started arguing and got into a violent altercation at their home.
You can find out more about this story below:
Crespo told police that he and Galva got into an argument after their night out and he was trying to drag her off his bed when she grabbed onto a spear with a 12-inch blade, the Sun Sentinel reports.
The 43-year-old claimed that, as he continued to pull his girlfriend off the bed, he heard the spear snap. When he turned around, the blade of the spear was apparently in Galva’s chest. He then claimed he pulled the blade out, hoping her injury was ‘not too bad’.
Crespo told police he then instructed another person in the house to call 911 and tried to apply pressure on the wound, according to ABC News. However, it was too late and Galva quickly succumbed from her injuries.
Now, police are hoping to learn the truth about what happened that night after obtaining a search warrant for anything recorded by two Amazon devices in the apartment between July 11 and July 12.
‘It is believed that evidence of crimes, audio recordings capturing the attack on victim Silvia Crespo that occurred in the main bedroom… may be found on the server maintained by or for Amazon,’ the police wrote in a legal filing.
Amazon turned over multiple recordings, but it has not yet been confirmed what was captured on any of them. Hallandale Beach Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Pedro Abut said they are still ‘in the process of analysing the information that was sent to [them].’
Crespo was charged with second-degree murder, with police alleging his actions caused Galva’s death – even if it was unintentional, as the man claims.
The police report said:
Based on the information received, the actions of the defendant caused the victim to grab the spear to keep herself on the bed.
The force used by the defendant to remove the victim caused the shaft to break and in an unknown way caused the blade to pierce the victim, which caused the loss of life.
Crespo is currently free on a $65,000 bail. His next court date has not been set.
Our thoughts are with Silvia’s loved ones at this difficult time.
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.
A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).