Five people died in Chatsworth on the evening of Sept. 15. Two were riding a Los Angeles Metro bus. Three were killed a short time later when a news helicopter covering that crash fell out of the sky a few blocks away.
The driver prosecutors blame for the bus crash is now charged with murder. But only for two of those deaths.
Whether she ends up answering for the other three depends on a question that has nothing to do with what she was driving or what was in her system. It comes down to what federal investigators find inside a helicopter engine.
What prosecutors say happened on De Soto Avenue
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, of Simi Valley, was behind the wheel of a 2004 Ford Expedition when she drove into the wrong lane on De Soto Avenue, ran a red light, and broadsided a Metro bus. District Attorney Nathan Hochman said she was “under the influence of drugs” at the time, The Associated Press reported.
Two bus passengers were killed: Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Six other people were hurt. Firefighters had to cut Rios out of the SUV, and ABC7 reported that investigators found narcotics inside it. The station also reported that she has prior drug offenses and a history of driving on a suspended license…