Woman faces murder charges in suspected DUI crash that killed 2 on L.A. bus
Prosecutors have announced second-degree murder charges against the woman accused of driving an SUV into a Los Angeles bus while impaired by drugs, killing two passengers. Five other people aboard the bus were injured, including two seriously.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the charges on Thursday over the September 15 crash at De Soto Avenue and Nordhoff Street in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. The collision happened at about 5 p.m.
Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, will also face an additional charge involving driving under the influence and reckless driving, Hochman said. He said prosecutors would seek the maximum punishment of life in prison.
Hochman said the driver was traveling well above the speed limit in a Ford Expedition when she approached vehicles stopped at a red light. She crossed into opposing traffic, ran the light and struck an eastbound Metro bus.
“The evidence will show when we present it that she was impaired by drugs at the time,” Hochman said. “In fact, she had narcotics in the car at that time.”
The impact fully ejected one passenger and partially ejected another, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31, were pronounced dead at the scene. Hochman said Weida’s parents had planned to visit him that Saturday for his birthday.
“Instead, they’re not going to be coming out for his birthday. They’ll be coming out for his funeral,” he said.
Hochman said five additional bus passengers were injured, two of them seriously. Police had initially reported one severely injured passenger and said six people in total were transported to hospitals.
The driver was arrested and booked for murder after the crash, with bail set at $4 million.
“She did not have to get behind the wheel while impaired. She did not have to drive on the other side of the road,” Hochman said, calling the crash a “preventable tragedy.”
NBC LA reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were covering the collision for NBC LA and Telemundo 52 when their helicopter crashed a couple of blocks away later that evening. Both were killed, along with 29-year-old Edy Gutierrez Mejia, who was in the parking lot where the aircraft went down.
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