Crime17 September, 20262 min read
Bailee Lynn Rios Charged With Second-Degree Murder After SUV Crashed Into LA Metro Bus
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Bailee Rios, 36, charged with second-degree murder after Chatsworth SUV crash into Metro bus. Driver impaired by drugs and speeding; two bus travelers killed, several injured.
13 outlets told this the same way.
Rios charged after bus crash
Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder after an SUV crash into a Los Angeles Metro bus in Chatsworth killed Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31, and injured six others.
Prosecutors said Rios was driving a gray 2004 Ford Expedition southbound in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue around 5 p.m. Tuesday, ran a red light at Nordhoff Street, and struck a northbound Metro Line 166 bus at full speed.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the crash was a "preventable tragedy," adding that Rios "was impaired by drugs at the time."
Hochman announced Rios was held on $4.03 million bail and was scheduled to appear in court on Friday for formal arraignment, with a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted on all counts.
Video, bail, and family
KTLA reported that newly obtained cellphone video shows Rios sitting behind the wheel of her damaged SUV moments after the collision as she prepared to face a judge Friday on murder and other charges. KTLA said Rios was expected to be arraigned Friday morning after her scheduled court appearance Thursday was postponed because of a medical issue, and that she remains jailed on more than $4 million bail.
Rios’s father, Jeffrey Weida, told KTLA that his son was "going to work … wrong place, wrong time," after Gage Weida was killed, and Castillo’s daughter Johaunna Castillo said, "It left us all incredibly distraught," after seeing video of the crash. NPR reported that Rios’s mother, Cindy Rios, said she was "shocked and saddened by the string of events" and that she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn Rios since her arrest.
Helicopter crash complicates case
The bus crash set off a second fatal incident in the San Fernando Valley when an NBC4 NewsChopper 4 helicopter covering the collision crashed nearby, killing reporter Eliana Moreno, veteran pilot George Marciniw, and 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia. FOX 11 said Hochman indicated his office will review the findings of the federal aviation probe to determine whether there is any legal connection that warrants additional charges in relation to the primary prosecution.
“If there is not, then that will not lead to any further charges.”
MyNewsLA reported that Hochman said his office would consider whether there is any "tie-in with our current prosecution" when the federal investigation is completed, and that if there is not, it "will not lead to any further charges." As the criminal case proceeds, prosecutors also said narcotics were recovered from Rios’s vehicle, while the exact type of narcotics found inside the SUV had not been disclosed by law enforcement officials.