Woman shot Uber driver dead ‘because she believed she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico’
Phoebe Copas, 48, from Kentucky, was travelling to El Paso in Texas when she saw signs for Juarez – a city just across the US-Mexican border from her destination.
James Robinson
Sky News reporter @thejournojames
Monday 26 June 2023 17:41, UK
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Phoebe Copas, who is from Kentucky, is accused of the murder of Uber driver Daniel Piedra Garcia. Pic: El Paso Police Department
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Phoebe Copas. Pic: El Paso Police Department
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A woman charged with murder after shooting her Uber driver in the head mistakenly believed she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico, police say.
Phoebe Copas, who is from Kentucky, was travelling to El Paso, Texas, to see her boyfriend when she saw signs for Juarez.
The Mexican city is located just across the US border from El Paso – with the two cities connected by bridges across the Rio Grande.
Believing she was being kidnapped, Copas, 48, is accused of grabbing a handgun from her purse and shooting her Uber driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, in the head.
The car crashed shortly after and Mr Piedra was rushed to hospital.
The 52-year-old was put on life support for several days, but it was turned off after his family was told by doctors that he would not recover.
Uber driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, who was fatally shot while driving a passenger to El Paso, Texas. Pic: Facebook
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Daniel Piedra Garcia. Pic: Facebook
According to a police witness statement, the area where the car crashed was “not in close proximity of a bridge, port of entry or other area with immediate access to travel into Mexico”.
“The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Mr Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination,” police said in a statement.
Copas, who is from Tompkinsville, Kentucky, has been charged with murder over the 12 June incident.
In this Thursday, December 26, 2013 photo, vehicles line to cross The Paso del Norte Bridge between El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez towards El Paso. Twenty years ago, the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect, dramatically changing Mexico in fundamental ways but the treaty never met many of its sweeping promises to close Mexico's wage gap with the United States, boost job growth, fight poverty and protect the environment. (AP Photo/Ivan Pierre Aguirre)
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The Paso del Norte Bridge between El Paso, Texas and Juarez – towards El Paso. Pic: AP
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Court records did not list a lawyer who could speak for Copas. She remains in custody in El Paso.
Mr Piedra’s niece, Didi Lopez, paid tribute to her uncle, who she described as a “hardworking man” and “really funny”.
“He was never in a bad mood. He was always the one that, if he saw you in a bad mood, he’d come over and try to lift you up,” she told the El Paso Times.
Related Topics
Texas
Uber
United States
