LOS ANGELES — An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into the wrong lane, blew a red light and slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two riders, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged her with murder.It was a tragedy compounded by the subsequent fatal crash of a TV news helicopter that had been covering the collision.Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue and struck a vehicle before plowing into a city bus on Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference.Rios, 36, 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.Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.Online court records did not list a lawyer who might speak on her behalf, and the public defender's office said it had not been appointed to represent her.Reached Wednesday, her mother Cindy Rios said she was shocked and saddened by the string of events.
She said she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn Rios since her arrest and had not been contacted by law enforcement.She could not immediately be reached Thursday for additional comment.The news helicopter crash killed 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.In surveillance footage obtained by NBC4 Los Angeles, the helicopter can be seen dropping out of the sky on a slight diagonal angle and landing behind a few trees and other objects.Moments later, a large plume of black smoke and flames erupt from the crash site.Hundreds gathered in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday evening for a candlelit vigil honoring the victims of both crashes.
Friends and family members brought photos of their loved ones and joined i...