An Uber passenger has been charged with murder for shooting and killing her driver in El Paso, Texas. Phoebe D. Copas, 48, allegedly shot her driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, 52, several times in the head, while in the backseat of his Nissan Maxima, according to a City of El Paso news release.
Copas claimed she thought Garcia was kidnapping her and taking her outside the U.S. after seeing a traffic sign for Juarez, Mexico, but an initial investigation conducted by the El Paso Police Department said in the news release that its findings “do not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination.”
Copas was arrested at the scene and was initially held at the El Paso County Detention Facility where she was charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and was issued a $1 million bond.
Garcia was critically wounded at the scene and was placed on life support for five days but when doctors told his family he would be on a ventilator for the rest of his life, his family made the difficult decision to let him go. “My aunt didn’t want to see him suffer,” Didi Lopez, Piedra’s niece, told The Washington Post. “But, honestly, we don’t think that we made the decision to disconnect him. That decision was made for him the second that those bullets went into his head.”
Following Garcia’s death, Copas was charged with murder and her bond was increased to $1.5 million.
According to the affidavit, viewed by The Washington Post, Copas was reportedly on her way to meet her boyfriend in El Paso at a casino when she saw the Juarez, Mexico sign, which is seven miles across the El Paso border. Detectives reported in the affidavit that when they arrived at about 2:20 p.m., Copas’ boyfriend was pulling her from the crashed vehicle, and they allegedly saw her “drop everything she was holding in her hands on the ground,” which included the gun, according to the complaint.
Uber has multiple options to ensure passenger safety including an in-app emergency button that sends real-time location information and trip information directly to the police when the user calls or texts 911. The app also has a Live Help feature that connects riders with an ADT safety agent and RideCheck to check in with riders and drivers to ensure they are safe in the case of a long unexpected stop or possible crash.
However, authorities say that Copas made no attempt to call the police before or immediately after the incident, but according to The Post, the complaint alleges that she had texted photos of Garcia to her boyfriend prior to dialing 911.
“We are horrified by the rider’s actions that took the life of Mr. Garcia,” an Uber spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Gizmodo. “We have been in touch with his family, and our thoughts are with his loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time. We banned the rider as soon as we were made aware of what occurred and have been in contact with police.”
Copas’ bond hearing which was scheduled for Friday has been postponed and a new hearing date has not been set.
Lopez told CBS Austin that she believed the continued stereotypes about the Mexican border and the levels of safety there led Copas to wrongly assume she was in danger. “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 continued: “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.”
Garcia’s wife Ana Piedra set up a GoFundMe page, to help with her husband’s hospital and funeral expenses, which has already garnered nearly $84,000 in donations.