Los Angeles County prosecutors charged Bailee Lynn Rios with two counts of second-degree murder after she allegedly drove under the influence into a Los Angeles city bus on Tuesday, killing Daniel Castillo and Gage Weida. Rios faces $4.1 million bail as investigators look into both the car crash and subsequent fatal helicopter crash that was covering the scene, which killed three more people including pilot George Marciniw, reporter Eliana Moreno, and bystander Edy Gutierrez Mejia.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Tuesday, a 36-year-old woman named Bailee Lynn Rios drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down De Soto Avenue in Los Angeles, ran a red light near Nordhoff Street, missed another vehicle, and then crashed into an eastbound Metro Line 166 bus. This collision killed two passengers on the bus, Daniel Castillo (46) and Gage Weida (31), and injured six others. Rios was found to be under the influence of drugs; narcotics were discovered in her vehicle post-crash.
Hours later, an NBC News helicopter covering this incident crashed near the scene, killing reporter Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and a pedestrian. Rios was arrested on Wednesday, charged with two counts of second-degree murder, driving under the influence (DUI), and reckless driving. Her bail was set at $4 million, but she remains hospitalized due to injuries sustained in the crash.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman called this a preventable tragedy, emphasizing that Rios's impaired state and illegal actions led directly to these fatalities.
Written for “LA Bus Crash Before Helicopter Disaster” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 8 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 17372 · logged 2026-09-18
— 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.
asserted
they → swerve → murder
It was a tragedy compounded by the subsequent fatal crash of a TV news helicopter that had been covering the collision.
asserted
that → compound → 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
asserted
she → speed → Tuesday
, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference.
asserted
Hochman → tell → 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.
asserted
Rios → face → Castillo
Castillo left four children.
asserted
Castillo → leave → children
“There are no words that can truly capture how much we will miss him or the space he leaves behind in our lives,” Castillo’s youngest daughter, Johaunna, wrote on a fundraising page for funeral expenses.
asserted
daughter → be → expenses
Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.
asserted
Rios → hold → court
Online court records did not list a lawyer who might speak on her behalf, and the public defender’s office did not immediately return a message about whether it was representing her.
uncertain
it → list → her
Reached Wednesday, her mother Cindy Rios said she was shocked and saddened by the string of events.
asserted
she → reach → events
She said she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn Rios since her arrest and had not been contacted by law enforcement.
asserted
she → say → enforcement
She could not immediately be reached Thursday for additional comment.
uncertain
She → reach → 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.
asserted
crash → kill → ground
At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire.
asserted
helicopter → burn → fire
A vigil was planned Thursday evening to honor the victims of both crashes.
asserted
vigil → plan → crashes
There were no immediate details on what caused the helicopter to go down, but investigators said significant clues could come from the last seconds of video the crew broadcast.
uncertain
crew → be → video
In it, an alarm could be heard inside the helicopter’s cockpit as it lost altitude.
uncertain
it → hear → altitude
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that the video is “probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far.”
asserted
we → say → that
Just after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.”
asserted
voice → start → ?
The helicopter moves quickly away from the bus crash site and starts losing altitude.
asserted
helicopter → move → altitude
The woman says “You can’t pull up?” before the video stops as the chopper nears the ground.
asserted
chopper → say → ground
Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggests a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed.
uncertain
alarm → say → speed
He said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again.
asserted
pilot → say → rotor
The NTSB is also investigating the bus collision.
asserted
NTSB → investigate → collision
Moreno and Marciniw both worked for Angel City Air, a helicopter contractor, and provided aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.
asserted
Moreno → work → NBC4
Moreno, born in Orange County, joined Angel City Air in 2010, the same year she earned a broadcast journalism and political science degree from Chapman University.
asserted
she → bear → University
She reported for several news outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, NBC4 said.
asserted
NBC4 → report → 2023
Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974.
asserted
Marciniw → grow → 1974
The Aporia
