Woman fatally shot Uber driver over kidnap fears, police allege

Woman fatally shot Uber driver over kidnap fears, police allege
A US lady has been accused of fatally capturing her West Texas Uber driver after mistakenly believing she was being kidnapped and brought to Mexico, in response to police.

Phoebe Copas remained jailed Sunday in El Paso, Texas, after being charged with homicide final week within the dying of 52-year-old Daniel Piedra Garcia.

Court and jail data didn’t record an legal professional who might converse for Copas, 48.

Daniel Piedra Garcia
Daniel Piedra Garcia was fatally shot by his Uber passenger, police allege. (GoFundMe)

The capturing occurred on June 16 as Piedra was driving Copas to a location in far southeast El Paso. Copas, who’s from Tompkinsville, Kentucky, was in El Paso visiting her boyfriend, in response to authorities.

During the trip, Copas noticed visitors indicators that learn “Juarez, Mexico,” in response to an arrest affidavit. El Paso is situated on the US-Mexico border throughout from Juarez.

Believing she was being kidnapped and brought to Mexico, Copas is accused of grabbing a handgun from her purse and capturing Piedra within the head, in response to the affidavit. The car crashed into limitations earlier than coming to a cease on a freeway.

The space the place the automobile crashed was “not in close proximity of a bridge, port of entry or other area with immediate access to travel into Mexico,” in response to the affidavit.

“The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination,” police mentioned in a news launch.

Police allege that earlier than she referred to as 911, Copas took a photograph of Piedra after the capturing and texted it to her boyfriend.

Piedra was hospitalized for a number of days earlier than his household took him off life help after medical doctors informed them he wouldn’t recuperate.

“He was a hardworking man and really funny,” Piedra’s niece, Didi Lopez, informed 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.”

Copas, who’s being held on a US$1.5 million ($2.25 million) bond, was initially charged with aggravated assault. The cost was upgraded to homicide after Piedra died.

An on-line fundraiser arrange by Piedra’s household mentioned he was their sole supplier and had solely not too long ago began working once more after being injured in his earlier job.

“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,” Lopez mentioned.

“We just want justice for him. That’s all we’re asking.”

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Source: www.9news.com.au