Opening statements are scheduled to start Tuesday in the trial of a nurse accused of speeding through a red light and killing six people in a crash at a Windsor Hills intersection.
Nicole Lorraine Linton faces six counts of murder in the deadly August 2022 crash at La Brea and Slauson avenues. Surveillance camera video from that afternoon showed a Mercedes-Benz sedan run the red light and slam into another car in a fiery multi-vehicle crash.
Prosecutors said the Mercedes-Benz was traveling more than 100 mph in the 35 mph zone as it struck the rear quarter of an SUV, triggering the chain-reaction crash. Several people were ejected from vehicles.
Linton, a nurse from Houston, was hospitalized with moderate injuries.
The dead included a 23-year-old pregnant woman, Asherey Ryan, her 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero, fiancé Reynold Lester and her unborn baby, whom the couple planned to name Armani Lester. They were on the way to a prenatal medical appointment.
Also killed in the crash were Nathesia Lewis, 43, and her friend, 38-year-old Lynette Noble, who were in another car.
Eight people were injured.
In court, prosecutors said that the electronic data recorder in Linton’s car showed that seconds before the crash she was fully pressing the accelerator and reached 130 miles per hour. The crash left debris and burned vehicles scattered in the intersection.
Mourners gathered at the crash site in the days that followed to honor those killed.
Weeks after the crash, Linton’s family launched a web site that described her as a caring and compassionate person who struggled with mental health. The family said those struggles began in 2018 and continued on the day of the crash.