Sam Amico
A woman who fatally shot an Uber driver in El Paso, Texas, said she did so because she believed the driver was attempting to take her to Mexico — and not her requested destination.
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Police, however, say that was not the case.
Phoebe Copas, 48, allegedly shot and killed driver Daniel Garcia, 52, who spent time on life support after the accident, before his family made the difficult decision to discontinue it.
Initially, Copas was charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony. Those charges were upgraded to murder when Garcia died. Copas’ bail has been set at $1.5 million.
“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,” El Paso police said in a statement.
Copas was expected to be Garcia’s final pickup for the day. He began working as an Uber driver three weeks ago as a second income to help support his family, per the El Paso Times.
“We believe that was going to be his last ride because he would usually go back home around that time,” his niece told the Times. “So, he picked her up, but time went on, and so my aunt, his wife, was calling him and calling him and texting him, and he wouldn’t answer his phone. So, then that’s when she started calling everybody else.
Copas reportedly had requested a ride to meet with her boyfriend at Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.
