Houston nurse Nicole Linton charged with murder, gross vehicular manslaughter in Windsor Hills crash that killed 6

A nurse from Houston was charged Monday with six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter for the fiery crash that killed six people, including an infant and a pregnant woman.

Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, was behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz that barreled through a red light at Slauson and La Brea avenues last Thursday and slammed into several other vehicles in the Windsor Hills area, according to the CHP. The six people killed included all the members of one family — 23-year-old Asherey Ryan, the child she was pregnant with, her boyfriend, 24-year-old Reynold Lester, and the father of her unborn son, and her infant son Alonzo, who was about to celebrate his first birthday.

The charges include six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter. District Attorney George Gascón said his office cannot file a manslaughter charge in a case involving an unborn child. 

"This is a case that will always be remembered for the senseless loss of so many innocent lives as they simply went about their daily routines," Gascón said in a statement.

Linton, who was in a wheelchair, made her first court appearance in the case on Monday. She did not enter a plea in the case, and  her next hearing was scheduled for Aug. 15.

If convicted as charged, she could face 90 years to life in prison, Gascón said. Prosecutors say Linton has a history of mental health issues and a problematic driving history, including a lack of a California driver's license and her involvement in a 2020 traffic collision with bodily injury.

Linton was also believed to be a flight risk as she works as a traveling nurse, so her bail was not reconsidered.

Surveillance video from the scene showed the Mercedes speeding through a red light in a 35 mph zone on La Brea at a speed authorities estimated was about 100 mph and broadsiding another vehicle, which exploded into flames. It was pushed into at least one other vehicle, and both ended up against a gas station sign on the corner of the intersection. The impact of the fiery crash left a trail of flames from the intersection.

Eight vehicles in total, including Linton's, were involved in the crash. Linton's Mercedes ended up near a bench down the street.

Two other women who died in the crash have yet to be identified, according to Gascón. The occupants of six other vehicles, including five in an SUV and another driver in another vehicle, were also injured.

"While the wreckage of this fiery crash at this intersection was removed and traffic eventually resume, there is catastrophic damage to the families and friends of those killed and injured," Gascón said. "It is not only a tremendous loss to the families but our entire community who learned of this incredible tragedy or have watched the now viral video of the collision."

Gascón said there was no evidence alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash, but it has not yet been ruled out.

Linton was arrested Friday while she was still hospitalized for moderate injuries she sustained in the crash. She was released from Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center over the weekend, and was being held on $9 million bail, according to jail records.