TEXAS – Mr Daniel Piedra Garcia had been an Uber driver for three weeks when he picked up a rider on June 16 who was headed to the Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso, Texas. It was near the end of his work day, but Piedra had picked up the rider anyway, his family said.
As they passed a sign for Juarez, Mexico, a nearby city over the border, the passenger grew nervous about where they were headed, she told authorities. According to court documents, she said she feared she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico.
That’s when the passenger, Phoebe Capos, 48, grabbed a brown-and-silver revolver from her purse and shot Mr Piedra, 52, in the head, authorities said. The car crashed into a roadway barrier before coming to a stop on US Route 54.
Copas was originally charged with aggravated assault, but that was upgraded to murder after Mr Piedra died at a hospital on June 21.
A judge set bond for Copas at US$1.5 million (S$2 million). Her lawyer, Matthew James Kozik, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to an affidavit prepared by a detective for the El Paso Police Department, Copas was visiting from Kentucky and on her way to meet her boyfriend at the Speaking Rock Casino, where he worked.
The route that Mr Piedra was driving was “a normal route to drive” to the requested destination, according to the court document, and the location where Copas shot Piedra was not near “a bridge, port of entry or other area with immediate access to travel into Mexico.”
Copas did not call police to report being in any immediate danger before shooting Mr Piedra, the affidavit said. After she shot him, it noted, she took a picture of Piedra and texted it to her boyfriend before she called 911.
When officers arrived at the scene, Copas was being helped out of the car by her boyfriend, according to the court document, and she dropped “everything she was holding in her hands on the ground,” including a brown-and-silver handgun.
In a statement, Uber said it was “horrified” by Copas’ actions “that took the life of Mr Piedra.”
“We have been in touch with his family, and our thoughts are with his loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time,” the company said. “We banned the rider as soon as we were made aware of what occurred and have been in contact with police.”
Mr Piedra started driving for Uber in recent weeks as a second job to help make ends meet for his family, including his wife, Ana Piedra, and their nephew Luis Barragan, 16, whom they had raised since he was 3 months old.
In April, Mr Piedra underwent knee surgery after a metal rack fell on him while he was working as a diesel mechanic, his family said.
He lost pay after the injury, said his wife, and decided to pick up some extra work that he could perform while sitting down.