ICU nurse, 37, cries in court after being charged with six counts of MURDER: She faces 90-year prison sentence after 100mph LA crash killed pregnant mother, her unborn baby, her one-year-old son and FOUR others
- ICU nurse Nicole Linton, 37, was charged with six counts of murder on Monday
- The LA County DA also charged her with five counts of vehicular manslaughter
- Linton was allegedly driving about 100mph when she slammed into traffic
- The crash left six dead including pregnant mother Asherey Ryan, 23
- Ryan was pronounced dead at the scene alongside her one-year-old child Alonzo Luchiano Quintero and her unborn baby boy
- Renald, the father of Ryan’s unborn son, was also killed in the fiery crash
- If convicted as charged, Linton faces up to 90 years in prison
An ICU nurse has been charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter after a fiery 100mph crash left a pregnant mother, her unborn child, one-year-old son and four others dead.
Nicole L. Linton, 37, a nurse from Texas who works in Los Angeles, was charged Monday as she cried in court over the Thursday crash that killed six and left eight others injured. If convicted as charged, she could face up to 90 years in prison.
Police said Linton slammed her car into five other vehicles while driving as fast as 100 mph by an intersection at Windsor Hills.
LA County DA George Gascón revealed during a press conference Monday there was no evidence Linton was under the influence of alcohol during the time of the crash.
She was released from the hospital Sunday and is now held at the Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California on a $9 million bond.
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Nicole L. Linton, 37, (pictured in court Monday) has been charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter after a fiery 100mph crash left a pregnant mother, her unborn child, one-year-old son and four others dead
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PICUTED: Nicole L. Linton, 37, is being held on a $9million bond following the fatal car crash in Los Angeles. She is expected to appear at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Monday
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Linton is expected to be charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on Monday
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Tabia Johnson, a witness to the crash, took a photo of the suspect, Nicole L. Linton (center), commenting that Linton only appeared to suffer minor injuries in the horrible crash
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Linton can be seen here after the crash with blood on her left thigh and left forearm, she appears to be wearing hospital scrubs
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An emergency medical worker directs Linton, who can be seen here sitting with a bloody arm
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This is the horrific moment the Los Angeles driver Nicole L Linton sent the row of cars hurtling toward another gas station over the road before stopped just before the pumps
Windsor Hills crash: Nurse charged with six counts of murder
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Gascón said Linton was traveling at speeds of at least 90mph when she sped through a read light and hit crossing vehicles at the busy intersection of La Brea and Slauson Avenues.
Eight-month pregnant Asherey Ryan, 23, was pronounced dead at the scene alongside her one-year-old child Alonzo Luchiano Quintero and her unborn baby boy following the horrible crash.
The unborn child’s father, Renald, was also killed in the crash after the car split in half immediately on impact, those close to the family confirmed.
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Asherey, Renald, and little Alonzo were on their way to a doctor’s appointment for a pregnancy check-up when Linton smashed into the car they were traveling in.
‘A young family was destroyed in the blink of an eye,’ Gascón said Monday. ‘There’s catastrophic damage to the families and friends of those killed and injured.
‘It’s not only a tremendous loss to their families, but to our entire community, who learned of this incredible tragedy who watched the now viral video of the collision.’
Nicole Linton charged with six counts of murder for deadly crash
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PICTURED: Asherey Ryan, 23, died in the fiery crash with her one-year-old child and her unborn child. Tributes have poured in for the mother, who was expecting another child this year
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One-year-old baby boy Alonzo (pictured) was also killed in the horrific collision between South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue on Thursday afternoon
Horror moment speeding vehicles smashes into LA intersection
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LA County DA George Gascón said Linton was traveling at speeds of at least 90mph when she sped through a read light and hit crossing vehicles at the busy intersection of La Brea and Slauson Avenues. He is pictured during a press conference Monday
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Skid marks are seen on the ground at the intersection as investigators on Thursday evening tried to work out what had happened
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Graphic shows the direction the SUV was going in along South La Brea Avenue when it ran the red light and caused the horrendous crash
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Nicole L Linton (pictured) was the driver of the Mercedes which smashed into multiple cars in Los Angeles. She was arrested last week, cops confirmed
Los Angeles DA announces six murder charges in Windsor Hill crash
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Tabia Johnson, a witness to the crash, took a photo of Linton sitting down on a nearby sidewalk following the crash, with the burning aftermath visible in the background.
Johnson, who condemned the woman’s driving, said Linton only appeared to have suffered minor injuries, including bleeding near the head.
The ICU nurse cooperated with investigators, including checking of her bloodwork to see if she was under the influence when the fatal collision took place.
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Gascón said during Monday’s press conference that ‘there was no evidence of alcohol use at this point.’
A woman who identified herself as Linton’s friend, previously told reporters she was ‘drunk’ and ‘fighting with her boyfriend’ before she got in her car and smashed into a traffic jam.
Gascón acknowledged the woman’s allegations during Monday’s press briefing and said investigators are working to ‘further identify this person.’
He declined to give any additional information about the woman and her allegations.
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The ICU nurse, thought to be driving under the influence, smashed into multiple cars and killed six people last week
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The mangled wreck of the Mercedes that Linton was speeding in is shown here after the crash. Linton survived the crash but six others died, including Asherey Ryan and her one-year-old son, Alonzo
Stunning video of the crash show vehicles screeching across the street, bursting into flames, before finally coming to a stop in a mangled wreck just feet away from rows of highly flammable pumps.
The gut-wrenching fatal pile up happened between South La Brea Avenue and Slauson Avenue on Thursday afternoon around 1.40pm.
Eight people were left fighting for their lives with horrendous injuries following the devastating smash. Of those injured, six were teens and one suffered major injuries.
LA County Medical Examiner-Coroner confirmed and listed Asherey Ryan’s death, along with unborn ‘Baby Boy Ryan.’
Tributes have poured in for Asherey, who is believed to have been eight months pregnant, and her child after the devastating collision.
Asherey’s sister, Seana, who posted a message on Instagram about the incident, said she’s still shaken and heartbroken over the loss and condemned the driver who she said slammed into her brother-in-law’s car.
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Tributes poured in for the mother after she was tragically killed in the violent collision. Her one-year old Alonzo was also pronounced dead at the scene
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Mary Thompson prays as she brings a bouquet to the memorial site set after the crash which has taken six lives so far
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The father of the unborn child Renald (right) also died in the deadly crash. He is pictured with Asherey
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London Carter, with Southern Missionary Baptist Church, prays over a makeshift memorial across the street from where a fiery multi-car crash left pregnant Asherey Ryan and her one-year-old son dead
‘We’re looking for legal representation because this doesn’t make any sense,’ Seana said after reviewing videos of the crash.
‘Her taking my sister, my nephew, my brother-in-law, she took my son’s only cousin. We’re deeply hurt. We have to bury four people,’ she added, including the unborn child.
Alonzo’s father Luis Fernando Quintero wrote online: ‘I don’t have any words rn [right now] I’m too much in pain because this is something I never expected no one did I’m going to miss you both and I didn’t get to say goodbye or make up for time lost with you Alonzo my heart is aching may y’all rest in piece [peace] god has gained two amazing angels.’
The family have created a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs following the horrific ordeal.
Witness Veronica Esquival said that she was pumping gas when debris suddenly started flying through the air during the horrific smash – caused by the female driver, who was alone in the car.
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The Mercedes races past a gas station then smashes into the side of a traffic jam, causing a flaming inferno in the Windsor Hills district
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The Mercedes coupe can be seen speeding past the gas station toward the intersection before the sickening crash on Wednesday
She said that a baby tragically landed on the floor in the middle of the gas station before panicked workers tried to resuscitate the child.
She said: ‘I was about to pump gas and all of a sudden, I hear all of the noises from all of the collisions, and then the fire explosion and I saw things, metal and things flying in the air. So, I just covered myself behind the pump.
‘All of the sudden, a baby literally flew from the middle of the intersection to the middle of the gas station and landed right on the floor in front of me.
One woman claimed that the driver was her friend, and that she had been drinking after fighting with her boyfriend prior to the deadly crash
‘One of the workers came and saw me with the baby and took the baby out of my hands. Somebody tried to resuscitate the baby, but the baby was gone.’
Linton was alone in the car, officials confirmed.
Another heartbroken witness, Alphonso Word, who was just a few cars away from the intersection when the tragedy struck, told KTLA that the crash sounded ‘like a bomb.’
He said that the child was ‘ejected from the street’ as was the pregnant mother, who ‘landed over to the side.’
Devastating images show vehicles left burnt out after firefighters doused the huge flames caused by the crash – after an inferno made it look like ‘the whole intersection was on fire.’
The shocking footage, taken from a gas station overlooking the scene, starts as the Mercedes coupe races past the pumps at a blistering pace.
The doomed vehicle fails to break as it bears down on traffic flowing both ways across the packed intersection.
Bystander documents deadly crash caused by ‘drunk’ driver killing six
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The shocking footage, taken from a gas station overlooking the scene, starts as the Mercedes coupe races past the pumps at blistering pace
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The doomed vehicle fails to break as it bears down on the traffic flowing both ways across the packed intersection
It slams into the first car, which immediately bursts into a fireball before plowing through several others that spin from the huge impact. The crash sends them all hurtling towards another gas station across the intersection before finally coming to a stop in a crumpled mess.
The pile up came to a stop just before the second gas station over the road, which is considered an architectural icon.
Images show mangled, burnt-out vehicles splattered across the street in what was described by California Highway Patrol as looking ‘like a war zone.’
Debra Jackson, who was filling her car with gas, told CBS Los Angeles: ‘All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion and flames went over my whole car. I though my car was on fire.’
California Highway Patrol spokesman Franco Pepi said that ‘at least six or seven’ vehicles were involved – and three became engulfed in flames.
He added: ‘Just unknown reasons for the high speed at this time … Everyone needs to drive with more due regard because a lot of collisions happen, and this just happens to be at the top of the list of how bad they can get.’
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