Simi Valley Driver Faces Murder Charges After Chatsworth Bus and Helicopter Crashes

Aspen —Bailee Lynn Rios is facing murder charges.

The 36-year-old Simi Valley resident was arrested Tuesday night and held in a Los Angeles jail with bail set at $4 million. Police say she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue, ran a red light, and struck a vehicle before slamming into a city bus. At least two people died in the collision. Six others were injured. One passenger was fully ejected from the bus. Another was partially ejected.

This crash is not a standalone event. It is the prelude to a second, deadlier tragedy. About two hours after Rios hit the bus, a news helicopter covering the scene crashed in the Chatsworth neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. Three people died.

NBC4 Los Angeles reported that reporter Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw were killed aboard the chopper. A third victim, Edy Gutierrez Mejia, 29, died on the ground in a parking lot. The Guatemalan consulate confirmed Mejia was from Guatemala.

The sequence of events is tight. Rios caused the first death toll. The media response to that event led directly into the second.

Rios’ mother, Cindy Rios, spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday. She said she was shocked and had not spoken to her daughter since the arrest. Law enforcement has not contacted the family.

“The fact that my daughter was involved and was the cause of it is just extremely disturbing,” Cindy Rios said. “If anything, I’m sorry for the other families … My daughter’s alive. People lost their lives.”

The district attorney’s office is reviewing the case. They will decide whether to file the murder charges in court or pursue different ones. No lawyer has come forward to speak on Rios’ behalf yet.

The two victims of the bus crash were identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Both lived in Los Angeles.

The helicopter crash remains a mystery, but the video tells part of the story. The crew was broadcasting live when the chopper began losing altitude. An alarm sounded in the cockpit. A woman’s voice said “uh oh.” Then, as the helicopter moved quickly away from the collision site and dropped toward the ground, she asked, “You can’t pull up?” The video cut out.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar called that footage the most important evidence discovered so far. He said the sounds were consistent with the helicopter’s engine changing speed. The NTSB is investigating what caused the crash, but there are no immediate details on the mechanical failure or pilot error.

Read that again. One driver. Two separate disasters. Three additional deaths from the air crash, two from the ground collision. Five dead in a span of roughly three hours.

The district attorney’s office has the bus crash under review. The NTSB has the helicopter. Neither agency has said when they will share findings with the other.

Cindy Rios is waiting for a call that hasn’t come.