LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A woman charged with murder for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs while slamming her SUV into a Metro bus in Chatsworth, killing two people and injuring five other victims, pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday.
Bailee Rios, 36, of Simi Valley 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.
Rios remains jailed in lieu of $4.1 million bail and is due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 2.
Her arraignment had been repeatedly delayed because of medical reasons. Rios was brought to the San Fernando courthouse by ambulance on Sept. 18 and wheeled into the building on a gurney, but the judge postponed the arraignment at the request of the defense, which cited her medical condition.
She was on a gurney again when she entered the courtroom Thursday, surrounded by deputies, and appeared to have dark bruises under both eyes. She stared up at the ceiling for most of the 30 minutes that she was in the courtroom.
Rios was difficult to understand when she spoke, her voice sounding garbled.
The two people killed in the Sept. 15 crash were identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, who died on the bus, and Gage Weida, 31, who died on the street nearby, having apparently been thrown from the bus during the collision.
About two hours after that wreck, an NBC4 helicopter crew reporting on the bus collision crashed just blocks away that night, killing three people.
Bailee Rios, the woman accused of slamming her SUV into a Metro bus in Chatsworth, was charged with second degree murder.
More than 10 members of Castillo’s family were present in the courtroom Thursday, some of them weeping and others breathing deeply as they tried to follow along with the proceedings.
They initially did not hear Rios’ plea clearly due to her muffled voice. When the victim’s family members walked out of the courtroom and were told that the defendant pleaded not guilty, they broke down in tears and hugged one another.
Castillo’s family declined to speak on camera, but in a statement provided to ABC7, they said they were upset by the not-guilty plea, adding that they want justice to be served.
“Our dad brought so much love, laughter, joy, and light into our world,” a previous statement said as part of a GoFundMe campaign. “We are incredibly blessed to have loved him and to have been loved by him. While we wish we had more time with him, we will carry his love and the light he brought into our lives with us forever.”
The other man killed in the vehicle crash, the 31-year-old Weida, would have turned 32 last weekend.
City News Service contributed to this report
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