Driver in Los Angeles Metro bus crash faces murder charges amid history of drug-related offenses
Bailee Lynn Rios has been charged with reckless driving, DUI and two counts of second-degree murder after her SUV collided with a Metro bus, killing two passengers; court records show repeated drug arrests and probation rather than jail time.
A 2004 Ford Expedition driven by Bailee Lynn Rios entered the intersection of De Soto Avenue and Nordhoff Street from the wrong direction at high speed and struck Metro Bus Line 166, killing two passengers and injuring six others. Video from the scene shows the SUV did not brake before impact. Rios was arrested and charged Thursday with reckless driving, driving under the influence and two counts of second-degree murder. She has not been charged in the unrelated helicopter crash that occurred nearby later that evening.
Court documents reveal Rios has a long record of drug-related arrests dating back to 2016, including possession of methamphetamine, heroin and prescription benzodiazepines. Most of those cases resulted in probation, mandatory drug-treatment programs and diversion under California’s Proposition 47, rather than incarceration. A friend said Rios had been sober for about a year and a half before the crash but relapsed shortly before the incident.
Prosecutors argue the collision was a “preventable tragedy” and seek murder charges based on implied malice, asserting that Rios’ reckless conduct—driving the wrong way, running a red light and failing to brake—demonstrated a conscious disregard for human life. District Attorney Nathan Hochman said the defendant “did not have to get behind the wheel while impaired.”
If convicted, Rios faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. She has not entered a plea and has not been contacted for comment.
"What is particularly tragic about this case is that it is a preventable tragedy," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.
"If you voluntarily behave in a manner that is so obviously and inherently dangerous to human life... a jury could say you’re acting with a wanton and malignant heart," former Orange County homicide prosecutor Matt Murphy said.