A California woman was allegedly driving under the influence when she sped on the wrong side of the road, ran a red light and crashed her SUV into a Los Angeles Metro bus on Tuesday, killing two passengers, prosecutors say, in a tragedy compounded when a news helicopter covering the crash fell from the sky, killing three. Bailee Lynn Rios, 36, has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida. 31. Ríos was being held on $4.1 million bail and will be arraigned on September 18. Online court records did not list an attorney who could speak on her behalf, and the public defender’s office did not immediately return a message about whether it was representing her. The wake of Tuesday’s deadly bus crash worsened in the hours that followed, when a local news helicopter responding to the scene crashed to the ground in a fireball, killing two people on board: pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno. A pedestrian on the ground, Edy Gutiérrez Mejía, 29, also died in the accident. Contacted Wednesday, Rios’ mother, Cindy, said she was shocked and saddened by the series of events. He said he had not spoken to his daughter since his arrest and that authorities had not contacted her. She could not immediately be reached for additional comment Thursday. Castillo left four children. “We are still trying to process the unimaginable reality that he is no longer with us,” his youngest daughter, Johaunna, wrote on a fundraising page for funeral expenses. Weida’s family planned to visit him for his 32nd birthday, his father told CBS LA. “Unfortunately, we’re still headed there, but for the wrong reasons,” Jeffrey Weida said. “The deadly and destructive consequences of their actions will be felt for years to come,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. Stephanie Wiggins, CEO of the Los Angeles Metro, expressed her solidarity with the victims of the bus accident and their families. “We thank the first responders who responded to the scene and the investigators and prosecutors who are working to establish the facts and seek justice,” he said in a statement. After the helicopter crash in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, on Tuesday night. Photograph: Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images A vigil was planned Thursday night to honor the victims of both crashes. There were no immediate details about what caused the helicopter to crash, but investigators said important clues could emerge from the final seconds of the video the crew broadcast. In it, an alarm could be heard inside the helicopter cabin when it lost altitude. National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that the video was “probably the most important evidence we’ve uncovered so far.” In the video, after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says, “Uh oh.” The helicopter quickly moves away from the accident site and begins to lose altitude. The woman says, “Can’t you stop?” before the video stops as the helicopter approaches the ground. Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggested a possible loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in main rotor 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. The NTSB is also investigating the bus collision. Moreno and Marciniw worked for Angel City Air, a helicopter contractor, and provided aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52. Moreno, a native of Orange County, joined Angel City Air in 2010, the same year she earned a degree in broadcast journalism and political science from Chapman University. He reported for several media outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, NBC4 said. Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974. There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal crash records and news accounts.
