A woman charged with murder for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs and at a high speed before slamming her SUV into a Metro bus in Chatsworth, killing two people and injuring herself and five others, pleaded not guilty Thursday, Sept. 24.
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Bailee Rios, 36, of Simi Valley is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one felony count of driving under the influence causing injury, along with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. The charges include allegations of causing great bodily injury.
Rios remains jailed in lieu of $4.1 million bail and is due back in court Nov. 2 for a preliminary hearing date to be set.
Her arraignment in a San Fernando courtroom had been repeatedly delayed because of medical reasons. On Friday, Rios was brought to the San Fernando courthouse by ambulance and wheeled into the building on a gurney, but Judge Patrick Hare found good cause to postpone the arraignment at the request of the defense, which noted her medical condition.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said last week that Rios could face a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
He called the crash a “preventable tragedy” and said Rios “was impaired by drugs at the time.” Narcotics were allegedly found in her SUV, but Hochman did not specify what type of drugs were involved.
Rios was allegedly driving a gray 2004 Ford Expedition south in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue just after 5 p.m. Sept. 15 when she ran a red light and nearly collided with an eastbound vehicle before hitting the side of a Metro Line 166 bus in the 20900 block of Nordhoff Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The impact fully ejected one passenger from the bus and partially ejected another, police said. Six people were taken to hospitals, including Rios and the bus driver.
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The county medical examiner identified the two people killed as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Castillo died on the bus, while Weida died on the street nearby after apparently being thrown from the bus during the collision.
Rios was arrested on the night of Sept. 15 by investigators with the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division and booked on suspicion of murder.
A cousin of Castillo spoke outside the courthouse last week following the postponed arraignment.
“Danny was loved by everybody,” the cousin said. “She broke our family … she needs to come and face what she did.”
An NBC4 helicopter crew reporting on the bus collision crashed nearby shortly before 7 p.m. last Tuesday, killing three people and injuring two others.
Federal authorities are investigating the helicopter crash. Hochman said his office will determine after that investigation whether there is any connection that could affect the prosecution of Rios.