The nurse accused of killing five people last week when her Mercedes plowed into traffic at a busy Windsor Hills intersection had been involved in 13 previous crashes, Los Angeles County prosecutors alleged Monday in charging her with murder.
Authorities revealed new details about Thursday’s crash and about the driver, Nicole Lorraine Linton , 37, whose permanent address is in Texas and who is currently renting a room in Los Angeles while working as a traveling registered nurse.
Prosecutors said they are reviewing multiple previous crashes linked to Linton , both in and out of California , including one in 2020 that involved bodily injury in which two cars were totaled.
They provided few additional details, however.
Linton’s attorney, Halim Dhanidina, asked the court Monday to continue her arraignment to October because he is reviewing her out-of-state history of “documented profound mental health issues.” Dhanidina did not elaborate on those issues but said the Windsor Hills crash could be linked to them.
Here’s what we know: California Nicole Lorraine Linton faces six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in connection with the fiery crash.
Surveillance video just before Thursday’s deadly crash shows a dark-colored Mercedes barreling down La Brea Avenue at high speed as dozens of cars cross on Slauson Avenue in Windsor Hills.
Prosecutors say Linton was behind the wheel.
The Mercedes does not appear to slow before running a red light shortly after 1:30 p.m.
The light had been red for nine seconds before the car barreled through the intersection, slamming into multiple cars, prosecutors said.
The Mercedes burst into flames and hurtled into a light pole, where it came to rest.
After the crash, a streak of fire burned on the ground, and billowing smoke could be seen from miles away.
Prosecutors say Linton was speeding as fast as 90 mph.
At least six vehicles were involved in the crash, according to California Highway Patrol investigators.
In addition to the fatalities, eight people were injured.
Los Angeles County Dist.
Atty.
George Gascón said there is no evidence of any alcohol use by Linton at this point.
In announcing charges against her Monday, he declined to discuss what led to the crash, saying it was still under investigation and he was “not going to get into the details.” California Family members of a pregnant women left reeling after she and four others killed in horrific crash The impact of the crash and fire it caused killed 23-year-old Asherey Ryan ; her 11-month-old child , Alonzo Quintero; her boyfriend, Reynold Lester; and their unborn child.
Ryan was 8½ months pregnant when she was killed.
The boy she was carrying had been named Armani Lester, according to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.
Two additional women killed in the crash have yet to be identified.
Linton was hospitalized with moderate injuries for several days before being taken into police custody.
Photographs posted online after the crash appear to show Linton sitting on the curb with a bloody arm.
She seems to be wearing hospital scrub pants and a shirt that has writing on the breastplate and sleeve.
Images from the scene show massive front-end damage to the Mercedes, which rammed headfirst into a light pole.
A law enforcement source told The Times that Linton suffered a broken foot and broken wrist in the collision, but the car’s advanced air bag systems for a front-end collision seems to have protected her from the worst of the impact.
A specialized CHP accident investigation team is extracting data from the Mercedes’ computers that capture speed, braking and acceleration.
California Family members of a pregnant women left reeling after she and four others killed in horrific crash Linton was charged Monday with six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter.
The vehicular manslaughter charges are for the deaths of the four adults and the baby, who was about two weeks shy of his first birthday.
Ryan’s unborn child cannot be included in those charges.
Linton faces up to life in prison if convicted of all charges.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Natalie Stone denied her bail, which previously had been set at million, at the request of the district attorney’s office, which said she is a flight risk.
Linton was set to leave L.A. and travel to Hawaii for work, prosecutors said.
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Follow Us Richard Winton is an investigative crime writer for the Los Angeles Times and part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2011.
Known as @lacrimes on Twitter, during almost 30 years at The Times he also has been part of the breaking news staff that won Pulitzers in 1998, 2004 and 2016.
Follow Us Nathan Solis is a Metro reporter covering breaking news at the Los Angeles Times.
He previously worked for Courthouse News Service, where he wrote both breaking news and enterprise stories ranging from criminal justice to homelessness and politics.
Before that, Solis was at the Redding Record Searchlight as a multimedia journalist, where he anchored coverage of the destructive 2017 fires in Northern California.
Earlier in his career, he worked for Eastsider L.A.
Follow Us Noah Goldberg covers breaking news for the Los Angeles Times.
He worked previously in New York City as the Brooklyn courts reporter for the New York Daily News, covering major criminal trials as well as working on enterprise stories.
Before that, he was the criminal justice reporter for the Brooklyn Eagle.
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