Phoebe Copas, of Tompkinsville, Kentucky, is charged with murder after Uber driver, Daniel Piedra Garcia, 52, was taken off life support.
Copas told police she shot Piedra because she feared he was kidnapping her and taking her to Mexico.
The incident happened on June 16 in El Paso, Texas, according to the arrest affidavit.
Copas told investigators she was in an Uber heading to El Paso’s Mission Valley, but at some point, she believed she was being taken into Mexico.
Copas said she saw highway signs to “Juarez, Mexico,” which is located across the US-Mexico border from El Paso.
Fearing she was being kidnapped by the Uber driver, Copas took a handgun from her purse and shot Piedra in the back of the head.
Piedra lost control of the car and crashed into barriers on a highway.
Copas allegedly snapped a photo of Piedra and texted it to her boyfriend, police said.
Piedra was placed on life support at a local hospital. His family ultimately decided to take him off life support when doctors said there was nothing more they could do for him.
In a news release, police said the evidence does not support a kidnapping or that Piedra deviated from the route to Copas’ destination.
Copas was originally charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.
The charge was upgraded to murder and she is being held on $1 million bond in the El Paso Jail.
