Texas woman, Phoebe Copas, is up against murder charges after fatally shooting her Uber driver in the head on June 16. Copas claims she thought he was attempting to kidnap her, so she shot him.
Despite her alleged motives, the El Paso Police Department’s investigation determined that the driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, never went off course from her destination. Because she was never in any danger from the 52-year-old husband and father, she’s facing murder charges and being held on a $1.5 million bond.
Copas was visiting her boyfriend in Texas when she ordered Piedra Garcia’s Uber to bring her to meet her boyfriend at a nearby casino. While in the car, Copas reportedly saw highway signs for “Juarez Mexico” and grew paranoid. El Paso police reported that Copas drew a revolver and shot the innocent man in the wrist and the back of the head. After the car crashed due to his injuries, Copas took a picture of the scene and sent it to her boyfriend before calling 911.
“The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination,” police reiterated to the public.
The Uber driver officially passed away on Wednesday after being taken off life support. Ana Piedra, Daniel’s wife, created a GoFundMe requesting financial support because Daniel was “the sole provider for our family,” She described him as “very happy to finally be able to work and bring home income” as an Uber driver.
Another Piedra Garcia family member expressed shock after hearing about the incident.
“It was just shocking, hard to believe; a lot of us had seen the news, but we never even imagined, it never crossed our mind that it was going to be him. “They make assumptions, they see stuff maybe on the news, maybe on social media, and stuff that’s not necessarily true, and when they come here, they come without really knowing,” She told a news outlet.
“I miss him, and I wish this wouldn’t have happened to him. He didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that.”