Woman who 'shot Uber driver she mistook as kidnapper' charged with murder
A woman has been charged with murder after allegedly fatally shooting a taxi driver who she thought was kidnapping her.
Phoebe Copas has been accused of pulling out a gun and shooting 52-year-old Daniel Piedra Garcia, of West Texas, after she saw a US freeway road sign for notorious Mexican border city of Juarez, police say.
The 48-year-old from Tompkinsville, Kentucky, remains jailed Sunday in El Paso, Texas, where the shooting happened on June 16.
Mr Piedra was described by a heartbroken relative as "a hardworking man and really funny".
A mugshot released by El Paso Police Department shows a teary eyed Ms Copas.
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Phoebe Copas, 48, appearing teary eyed in a police mugshot (El Paso Police Dept)She was visiting her boyfriend in El Paso when she took the taxi to a location in far southeast of the city, charging documents say.
Believing she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico, Ms Copas is accused of grabbing a handgun from her purse and shooting Piedra in the head, according to the affidavit. The vehicle crashed into barriers before coming to a stop on a freeway.
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,” according to the affidavit.
The family believe that Piedra was working his last ride of the day when he picked up Copas (9 News)“The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination,” police said in a news release.
Police allege that before she called 911, Ms Copas took a photo of Mr Piedra after the shooting and texted it to her boyfriend.
Mr Piedra was hospitalised for several days before his family took him off life support after doctors told them he would not recover.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by the family of Mr Piedra (9 News)His family have said he was working his last ride of the day when he was shot.
“He was a hardworking man and really funny,” Mr Piedra’s niece, Didi Lopez, told the El Paso Times. “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.”
Ms Copas, who is being held on a $1.5 million bond, was originally charged with aggravated assault. The charge was upgraded to murder after Mr Piedra died.
Family members of the victim grieve together at a vigil held at Memorial Park in El Paso, Texas (9 News)A GoFundMe campaign set up by Mr Piedra’s family said he was their sole provider and had only recently started working again after being injured in his previous job.
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“I wish she would’ve spoken up, asked questions, not acted on impulse and make a reckless decision, because not only did she ruin our lives, but she ruined her life, too,” Ms Lopez said. “We just want justice for him. That’s all we’re asking.”
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