Arraignment was delayed again Monday for a woman charged with murder for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs and at high speed before slamming her SUV into a Metro bus in Chatsworth, killing two people and injuring herself and five others.
It was third time arraignment has been delayed for Bailee Rios, 36, of Simi Valley. Most recently on Friday, Rio was brought to the San Fernando courthouse by ambulance and wheeled into the building on a gurney. Judge Patrick Hare found good cause to postpone the arraignment until Monday at the request of the defense, which noted her medical condition.
Rios’ arraignment is likely to be calendared day-to-day until she is physically able to appear in court. She remains jailed in lieu of $4.1 million bail.
She is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one felony count of driving under the influence causing injury, along with a misdemeanor count of reckless driving. The charges include allegations of causing great bodily injury.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman said last week that Rios could face a maximum of life in prison if convicted.
He called the crash a “preventable tragedy” and said Rios “was impaired by drugs at the time.” Narcotics were allegedly found in her SUV, but Hochman did not specify what type of drugs were involved.
Rios was allegedly driving a gray 2004 Ford Expedition south in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue just after 5 p.m. Tuesday when she ran a red light and nearly collided with an eastbound vehicle before hitting the side of a Metro Line 166 bus in the 20900 block of Nordhoff Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The impact fully ejected one passenger from the bus and partially ejected another, police said. Six people were taken to hospitals, including Rios and the bus driver.
The county medical examiner identified the two people killed as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Castillo died on the bus, while Weida died on the street nearby after apparently being thrown from the bus during the collision.
Rios was arrested Tuesday night by investigators with the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division and booked on suspicion of murder.
A cousin of Castillo spoke outside the courthouse Friday following the postponed arraignment.
“Danny was loved by everybody,” the cousin said. “She broke our family … she needs to come and face what she did.”
Castillo was a father of four. On a GoFundMe page created to assist his family, his daughter Johaunna Castillo described him as “truly an amazing person who had a way of bringing laughter and light into every room he walked into.”
An NBC4 helicopter crew reporting on the bus collision crashed nearby shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, killing three people and injuring two others.
Federal authorities are investigating the helicopter crash. Hochman said his office will determine after that investigation whether there is any connection that could affect the prosecution of Rios.
A community vigil honoring the five people killed in the bus and helicopter crashes was held Thursday evening at St. John Eudes Church in Chatsworth.