Driver Who Slammed Into Bus Before Copter Crash Was on Drugs: Cops

An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into the wrong lane, blew a red light, and slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two riders, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged her with murder. It was a tragedy compounded by the subsequent fatal crash of a TV news helicopter that had been covering the collision, the AP reports. Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue and struck a vehicle before plowing into a city bus on Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference. Rios, 36, faces two charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31.

Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday. Online court records did not list a lawyer who might speak on her behalf, and the public defender's office said it had not been appointed to represent her. The news helicopter crash killed both people on board, pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno, and a man on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire. Hundreds gathered in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles on Thursday evening for a candlelit vigil honoring the victims of both crashes. Friends and family members brought photos of their loved ones and joined in prayer.