EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The family of the Uber driver who was shot and killed by a woman who died before she could face trial for murder said they want to remind the community that he was the victim and they miss him terribly.
That’s the message from family members of Daniel Piedra during a news conference called on Thursday, May 29 by the El Paso District Attorney’s Office.
Piedra was shot and killed while giving a ride to Phoebe Copas in June 2023. Copas said she believed she was being kidnapped and taken to Mexico. While awaiting trial, she died in March of this year of a “medical episode” that has been ruled natural causes, DA James Montoya said.
Her untimely death made it so the family of Piedra and the defendant would not be able to present their sides during a trial and be vindicated, Montoya said.
Montoya said that he had no choice but to dismiss the case, but that left a big hole for the family of the victim.
Montoya said he was confident that if they had gone to trial, prosecutors could have proven that Copas’ actions were “not reasonable” and “unnecessary,” and were therefore not self-defense.
Because there will be no trial, Montoya said he wanted to give Piedra’s family a chance to speak since there would be no post-trial victim impact statements.
Didi Lopez, Piedra’s niece, said “it was not fair” how her uncle was “taken from us.”
“We miss him so much,” she said. “He was the victim. He was not a criminal. He was just a hard-working man.”
Her uncle’s death has left a huge hole in the family’s lives, Lopez said.
“He wasn’t kidnapping her,” she said. “Uber has already said he was taking her the right way (to go to Speaking Rock). He wasn’t abusing drugs. He was just a very funny, hard-working man.”
Piedra had no criminal record, “not even a ticket,” his niece said.
Lopez also said that he had a huge impact on people he met and is greatly missed by all.
No questions were taken from the media after the family issued some brief statements, one in English and the other in Spanish.
Read: Read More