Tourist panics upon seeing signs to Mexican border and kills her Uber driver, police say
The woman reportedly told police she believed she was being taken into Mexico against her wishes.
An Uber passenger accused of fatally shooting her driver reportedly told police she thought he was kidnapping her because she saw road signs indicating they were approaching Mexico.
The shooting happened last Friday, June 16, at 2:19 p.m. on Highway 54 in El Paso, Texas, a police report said.
The passenger, a 48-year-old Kentucky woman, was in the city visiting a boyfriend and planned to meet him at his workplace, Speaking Rock Casino.
Uber driver Daniel J. Piedra Garcia, 52, picked her up in west El Paso for the drive to the casino, which is a mile from the Mexican border.
When they were about 10 miles from the destination, they passed a ramp to Interstate 110, which is marked as the route to Juárez, Mexico. Shortly afterward, the woman took a handgun from her purse and shot Piedra, police say.
The arrest affidavit, cited by TV station KFOX14, said the woman did not attempt to call 911 before the shooting and that her first call was to her boyfriend, whom she texted a photo of the wounded driver. When police arrived at the shooting scene, the boyfriend was already there.
The woman reportedly told police she believed she was being taken into Mexico against her wishes. The police report said there is no indication Piedra deviated from the route to the casino.
Piedra was taken to a hospital, and the woman was initially charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. When Piedra died after being removed from life support on Wednesday, June 21, the charge was changed to murder and bail was increased to $1.5 million.