Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder following a high-speed Chatsworth crash where her SUV slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two passengers. Prosecutors announced the charges Thursday, noting the tragedy was compounded by a subsequent fatal news helicopter crash nearby.
An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into opposing traffic, ran a red light, and plowed into a Los Angeles city bus, according to prosecutors who announced murder charges on Thursday. The collision, which occurred in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, claimed the lives of two bus passengers and triggered a chaotic sequence of events that included a second, fatal aviation accident.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference that 36-year-old Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue. After striking another vehicle, she slammed directly into a Metro bus. Investigators found drugs in her vehicle following the wreck, prompting prosecutors to pursue second-degree murder charges alongside allegations of driving under the influence of a drug and reckless driving.
Victims Identified as Families Mourn in Chatsworth
The county medical examiner identified the two passengers killed on the bus as 46-year-old Daniel Castillo and 31-year-old Gage Weida. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene after the severe impact. Police stated that the collision was violent enough to fully eject one passenger from the bus and partially eject a second.
Loved ones remembered both men as bright figures within their families and communities. Castillo was a dedicated worker who took the same bus home from his job at a car parts warehouse every day, according to his daughter, Johaunna Castillo. She shared that her father maintained a daily routine of calling her after work.
“That’s who he was and that’s how he should be remembered — someone who brought a lot of joy and love into people’s lives.”
Johaunna Castillo, daughter of victim Daniel Castillo
Weida was just days away from celebrating his birthday when the crash happened. Hochman noted that Weida’s parents were scheduled to travel to Los Angeles that weekend to visit him, but instead arrived to arrange his funeral.
A Compounded Tragedy and Federal Helicopter Investigation
The devastation in Chatsworth deepened when a news helicopter covering the initial bus crash plummeted from the sky just blocks away. The aircraft, owned and operated by Angel City Air and providing coverage for NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo 52, crashed into storage containers and burned. The pilot George Marciniw, reporter Eliana Moreno, and a pedestrian on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia, all died in the second crash.
Legal Proceedings and Unresolved Questions
Rios was scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning, but court records show she could not attend due to a medical event. She was booked with bail set at $4.03 million, and her arraignment was rescheduled for Friday. Court records indicate she was previously convicted in 2022 of driving with a suspended license, while prior drug possession and DUI charges from that case were dismissed.
While prosecutors have secured murder and DUI charges tied directly to the bus collision, whether those charges will expand remains an open question. Hochman stated that his office is waiting for the federal investigation into the news helicopter crash to conclude before deciding whether to pursue any additional counts connecting Rios to the secondary fatalities.