A woman has been charged with murder after fatally shooting an Uber driver she claims she believes was kidnapping her, Texas authorities reported.
The victim, 52-year-old Daniel Piedra Garcia of El Paso was critically injured June 16 when 48-year-old Phoebe Copas of Tomkinsville, Kentucky, allegedly shot him as he was driving her along U.S. 54 South to her destination.
“At some point during the drive, Copas thought she was being taken into Mexico and shot Piedra. The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination,” police said in a statement.
Garcia was placed on life support at the hospital until the family made the agonizing decision Wednesday to discontinue it, the El Paso Times reported.
Copas was originally charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony, and held at El Paso County Detention Center under a $1,000,000 bond issued by Judge Priddy.
When Garcia died, those charges were upgraded to murder, and the bond was raised to $1.5 million.
Copas was Garcia’s last passenger of the day, the outlet also reported. Garcia had picked her up to take her to Speaking Rock Entertainment Center to meet with her boyfriend, according to an affidavit cited by the outlet.
As they were driving down U.S. 54 in El Paso, Copas allegedly saw a traffic sign that said “Juarez, Mexico.” That is what led her to believe she was being kidnapped, according to the same affidavit.
After Copas shot Garcia in the head, the vehicle crashed into roadway barriers. There were no bridges or ports of entry to Mexico in close proximity to the area of the crash, the affidavit also said.
Copas allegedly took a photo of Garcia after she shot him, but before calling 911.
“He was always the one that if he saw you in a bad mood, he’d come over and try to lift you up and always was making us laugh. Such a funny, caring and hardworking man,” Piedra’s niece, Didi Lopez, told the El Paso Times.
Piedra, 52, was the sole provider for his household and had begun working as an Uber driver just a few weeks before the incident, the outlet also reported.
A fundraiser to benefit Piedra’s family had earned nearly $70,000 of the $30,000 goal as of Monday morning.