US woman charged with murder after shooting Uber driver in head who she believed was kidnapping her

Image credit: El Paso City

A woman from Kentucky has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting her Uber driver in the head.

Phoebe Copas, 48, was travelling to El Paso, Texas, to visit her boyfriend when she saw signs for Juarez, a Mexican town located just across the US border.

Copas believed she was being kidnapped and took out a handgun from her purse and shot the driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, 52, in the head.

The car crashed shortly after, and Piedra was hospitalised in critical condition. After several days on life support, Piedra's family made the decision to turn off the life support machine.

In an El Paso Police statement it read: “At some point during the drive, Copas thought she was being taken into Mexico and shot Piedra. The investigation does not support that a kidnapping took place or that Piedra was veering from Copas’ destination.”

Copas has been charged with murder and is currently in custody in El Paso. Court records did not list a lawyer representing her.