In a bizarre case, A Woman in Texas killed her Uber driver after suspecting he was kidnapping her and taking her across the border into Mexico.
The woman, identified as Phoebe Copas, 48, was initially arrested on aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. However, she has now been charged with murder by the El Paso Police Department following the death of the Uber driver. She also had her bond revised from $1 Million to $1.5 million after the death.
The Uber driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, 52, was also his family’s sole bread provider and returned to work three weeks ago after knee surgery in April. He would begin his shift at 7 a.m. and finish it around 2 p.m.
A shot of Panic?
According to police, the woman living in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, came to El Paso to meet her boyfriend and took an Uber to meet him at a Speaking Rock Casino after he got off work.
However, Copas panicked when she saw signs for Juarez, Mexico, believing Piedra was kidnapping her. Thus, she took out her silver and brown revolver and shot him in the back of the head and on the wrist. Due to this, the vehicle, a Nissan Maxima, struck a concrete highway barrier and crashed along U.S. 54 southbound in South-Central El Paso.
A Photo before a call
It has been noted that before opening fire, Copas did not call the police for any help. Even after shooting the driver, instead of calling 911, she took a photo of the driver and texted it to her boyfriend before finally contacting the authorities. Police and family wonder if those crucial minutes wasted could have saved his life.
When police arrived, the boyfriend was already at the scene helping Copas get out of the car. After which, she dropped everything she held in her hands, including the revolver, on the ground. Police found Piedra bleeding heavily from the back of his head and was hospitalised at the University Medical Center of El Paso in critical condition.
However, the doctors informed them that he was brain dead.
A regular route
According to the initial police investigation, the place where the shooting occurred is nowhere near the point of entry and is a common route taken to go towards the Speaking Rock Casino.
In a statement, Uber said it would cooperate with investigators and added that it has been in contact with the driver’s family. They also said they were horrified by the rider’s actions and banned Copas from its platform.
The Garcia family has started a GoFundMe for the medical and funeral expense. It was created to collect $30,000 and has already exceeded the goal and collected $37,000.
A vigil for Daniel Piedra Garcia was held at Memorial Park in El Paso on Friday, where a lot of El Pasoan supported the family in this difficult time. Tamara Gonzalez is also an Uber driver but hasn’t returned to work after the news of Piedra being shot and killed.
An attorney assigned to defend Copas has not issued any statement.
