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She says she was afraid she was being kidnapped. Visiting El Paso from out of state, Phoebe Copas booked an Uber to the Speaking Rock Entertainment Center, a popular South Texas casino. She never got there.

Police found her on a well-traveled highway near the U.S.-Mexico border. When she got out of the Nissan Maxima, a brown and silver revolver fell to the pavement. The driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, was slumped over in the front seat with a gunshot wound in the back of his head that was “bleeding profusely,” police said. He would not survive.

Charged with murder, Copas’ much-delayed trial was set to begin with jury selection earlier this week, according to KFOX14. She fainted during a pre-trial hearing on Dec. 9, the same day the trial was postponed because of unavailability of defense witnesses. The 50-year-old Kentucky woman has suffered a series of maladies, including heart failure, kidney complications and repeated spells in which she ends up unconscious, says her lawyer, Matthew James Kozik.

The case against her seems improbable. Why would an attractive middle-aged woman in town on vacation shoot a stranger?

Police say she acted irrationally.

“(Copas) observed traffic signs that showed the words ‘Juárez, Mexico,’ which led her to believe (Piedra) was attempting to kidnap her and drive her into Juárez, Mexico,” El Paso police Detective L. Loera Jr. wrote in his affidavit.

What made her believe that? At a June 2023 hearing, prosecutor Shantal Ortega said no facts in the case proved Copas was being kidnapped.

“Simply because this is a border city and there may be signs showing miles away from some port of entry, it is unreasonable that she wouldn’t have come across that before as she was in a border city she had been to before,” Ortega said.

El Paso County District Attorney Bill Hicks said Copas’ actions were “very unreasonable.”

“(Kidnapping) has been her claim from the very beginning,” he said. “She called an Uber, the path that he was going, everything that was happening that (afternoon) does not give rise to a reasonable person’s belief that they were being kidnapped.”

Copas claims Piedra told her he was going to take her to a fair in Juárez. She told him she didn’t want to go. Piedra, according to Kozik, sped up and ignored Copas’ pleas to be dropped off,

“She asked for him to stop the vehicle. She attempted to open the doors, but the doors were locked,” Kozik said. “She tried to do everything anybody would expect someone to do before an escalation of force. He wouldn’t, and then she finally pulled out the weapon and she begged for him to just pull over the vehicle.

“He turned around and said, ‘I’m going to take you.  We’re going to Juárez.’ and he sped up the car.”

But there’s no mention of this in the affidavit.

“Saying she saw Ciudad Juárez, so she killed him is literally a figment of law enforcement’s imagination,” Kozik said.

He said a review of police body cameras and Copas’ interrogation shows she never mentioned the road signs, either in her statement to the initial officer on the scene or in a subsequent interview with officers.

Police found razor blades and a crowbar within reaching distance of Piedra, adding credibility to Copas’ fears of being kidnapped, Kozik said.

“I can’t speak for everyone, but everyone I know doesn’t carry razor blades on their or near their steering wheel,” Kozik said. “I’ve never heard of or know anyone that does that. Razor blades and a crowbar, which was also found by Piedra, are weapons. These are weapons that could be used to commit a crime. These aren’t accusations. These items were found in the car.”

Kozik also says the driver took an unusual route to the casino.

“All of this adds up to show this was not a normal Uber ride,” he said.

Piedra’s niece, Didi Lopez, described her uncle as a hard-working family man in a 2023 interview with the El Paso Times.

“We want justice,” Lopez said. “It wasn’t fair that that’s how the situation played out. 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.”

If found guilty, Copas could spend the rest of her life in prison. Due to the unavailability of some defense experts, the trial was delayed until April 2025. Copas remains out on bond.

‘The Doors Were Locked’: Terrified Tourist Shoots Texas Uber Driver in the Head After Mistaking Route to Casino for Mexico Kidnapping Plot, Passes Out In Court

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