A traveling Texas nurse is facing multiple murder charges after running a red light and crashing into traffic while allegedly driving 90 mph in Windsor Hills, California.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on Monday that Nicole Linton has been charged with six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter for the multi-car crash, which left six people dead. Linton faces a 90-year prison sentence if convicted.
Police say Linton was driving at high speed in a Mercedes on Thursday when she blew through a red light at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues. Multiple vehicles were hit and three of them were engulfed by flames in what authorities dubbed “a fiery wreck.”
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Linton, from Houston, is a traveling nurse who was working in Los Angeles when the crash occurred. Authorities are investigating whether drugs or alcohol were a factor.
Killed in the crash were Asherey Ryan, 23, who was more than 8 months pregnant, her 11-month-old baby, Alonzo Quintero, and her boyfriend, Reynold Lester. The couple were en route to a doctor’s appointment when the crash happened.
Two other women, who have yet to be identified, were killed in another vehicle.
Six other vehicles were involved in the collision, including five people with minor injuries in an SUV and another driver in another vehicle.
Linton, 37, was seen in tears and in a wheelchair during her first court appearance at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Monday. Her brows were furrowed as tears streamed down her face, her left arm wrapped in a brace. She nodded as a judge denied her attorney’s request for $300,000 bail.
“Today, we begin the process of holding accountable the person responsible for the deaths of six people, including a pregnant woman, and their families,” District Attorney Gascón said in a statement.
The case remains under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.
