A woman from Texas shot her Uber driver after she thought she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico.
Phoebe Copas (Photo: Fox 59)
Uber Driver Shot Dead
Last June 16, around 2:19 p.m., paramedics and local law enforcement responded to a call about a shooting southbound of I-54. Officers found Daniel Piedra Garcia, a 52-year-old Uber driver, suffering from a gunshot injury. El Paso Police stated that Garcia picked up Phoebe Copas from the west side of Texas. Garcia drove Copas to Mission Valley, as per her request. However, during the drive, Copas thought that she was being taken to Mexico by Garcia. Copas then shot Garcia under the impression that she was being kidnapped.
After a thorough investigation by El Paso Police, there was no evidence to support that Garcia was actually kidnapping Copas and that Garcia was not driving away from the destination requested by Copas. Garcia was taken immediately to a nearby hospital and Copas was arrested by the police under the charge of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Garcia ultimately died from his injuries last June 22. Copas’ charges were upgraded to murder.
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Phoebe Copas’ Crime
Copas came to the city from Tompskinville, Kentucky, to visit her boyfriend, as reported by The El Paso Times. According to the court documents, Copas saw the signs on the freeway headed for Juarez, Mexico. This led to Copas’ impression that she was being kidnapped by Garcia.
Copas took a shotgun from her purse and proceeded to shoot Garcia in the back of his head. After the shooting, Copas took a picture of Garcia and sent the picture to her boyfriend. Copas then called 911 and dropped her gun when the authorities arrived. Garcia was on life support at the University Medical Center in El Paso due to his sustained injuries from the shooting.
Garcia’s family decided to end his life support due to the amount of brain damage he was suffering. As of the moment, Copas is held in the El Paso County jail and is being held under a bond of $1.5 million.
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