LOS ANGELES (AP) — The driver who slammed her SUV into a Los Angeles bus, killing two people, has been charged with murder, a prosecutor said Thursday.
Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue, running a red light and striking a vehicle before plowing into a city bus, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference. She faces two charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31.
The collision gave way to a second deadly incident when a news helicopter covering it crashed, killing both people on board, pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno, and a man on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire.
Rios, 36, was being held on $4.1 million bail. She is scheduled to appear in court Friday, and it wasn’t immediately clear if she had a lawyer.