A Kentucky woman allegedly shot and killed her Uber driver on June 16 after thinking he was kidnapping her and transporting her to Mexico.
Phoebe Copas, 48, was charged with murder after purportedly shooting her Uber driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, 52, according to the El Paso Times.
Piedra was driving for Uber when he picked up Copas around 2:20 p.m. on June 16. He was taking her from the West Side to see her boyfriend at Speaking Rock Entertainment Center.
Piedra’s niece, Didi Lopez, said her aunt became concerned when he did not return from his shift.
“We believe that was going to be his last ride because he would usually go back home around that time,” said Lopez to 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.”
The family heard about the news when a friend mentioned the incident.
“They started calling all the hospitals, trying to see if he was there. And then someone had mentioned the article that came out about an Uber driver being shot. They called the [El Paso Police Department] nonemergency number and then that’s when they told them that it was him. And so for us to go to the hospital. That’s how we found out,” Lopez said, per the Times.
Copas claimed she saw signs that said “Juarez, Mexico,” and she allegedly believed she was being kidnapped, prompting her to shoot Piedra in the head, according to the Times. The vehicle then ran into road barriers and stopped on the freeway.
“What we were told originally was that the lady saw the sign on the freeway that said it was Mexico,” Lopez said, per the Times. “So, she panicked and thought that my uncle was kidnapping her. And so her instinct was to shoot him and she shot him multiple times in the head.”
While Copas says she believed she was being kidnapped, a news release from the City of El Paso states, “The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination.”
Piedra was taken to the hospital and remained on life support for several days following the incident. His family decided to disconnect the machines on June 21 after he was declared brain dead.
“His status was not gonna change if we did not disconnect him,” Lopez said, per the Times. “It was basically just gonna be like in a vegetative state. We didn’t want to see him suffering. We didn’t want him to live out his life like that.”
Copas was originally charged with aggravated assault but has now been charged with murder. Her bond was originally set at $1 million but was increased to $1.5 million.
A GoFundMe site was set up to honor Piedra, and “the money collected will be used to pay for hospital and funeral expenses and other difficulties that may arise.” Although the goal was $30,000, almost $100,000 has been raised.
Closer to home, crime has been on the rise in Dallas in 2023. Due to a ransomware attack, more recent statistics are unreliable, but available data from the Dallas crime analytics overview dashboard show that 3,078 reports of aggravated assault were documented year-to-date through the end of April.
Dallas police officers continue to patrol the streets amidst a shortfall of officers. The department is presently some 400-500 officers short of what is needed to fight crime, according to Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association.
Downtown Dallas struggles with crime in particular, lacking a dedicated police unit like that deployed in Deep Ellum. Nearby downtown Fort Worth has a private security firm to help patrol the downtown area and a much lower crime rate than downtown Dallas.
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