Woman Charged with 6 Counts of Murder for Fatal 100 MPH Fiery Crash at L.A. Intersection

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 04: CHP and other officials investigate a fiery crash where multi
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Ethan Letkeman

The driver who allegedly crashed her vehicle into a busy Los Angeles intersection at nearly 100 miles per hour, killing six people, is facing multiple murder charges.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced on Monday that nurse Nicole Linton, 37, has been charged with six counts of murder and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter for her involvement in causing the fiery crash.

If convicted on all counts, Linton faces up to 90 years in prison.

After she was released from the hospital Linton was arrested, and her bail was raised to $9 million after initially being set at $2 million. She is currently in custody at Century Regional Detention Center in Lynwood, California, CBS News reported.

The fiery crash occurred on Thursday at around 1:40 p.m. as Linton allegedly drove her Mercedes nearly 100 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone and “barreled into cross traffic at the busy intersection of La Brea and Slauson” in the Windsor Hills neighborhood.

The impact of the horrific crash resulted in three vehicles being engulfed in flames, with at least two other vehicles being struck.

The deceased victims include mother Asherey Ryan, who was more than eight months pregnant with her unborn child, named Armani Lester, who also died, KABC reported. Ryan’s boyfriend, Reynold Lester, and her 11-month-old son, Alonzo Quintero, were also killed in the crash.

Two other unidentified women in a Nissan Altima were killed, while eight people suffered injuries, including six teens, one of whom suffered major injuries, according to the Los Angeles Times.

An SUV carrying a family of seven was struck too, but they are only facing minor injuries.

One woman, who was about to fill her car up with gas near the intersection, described the fiery crash to CBS Los Angeles.

“All of a sudden, I heard a big explosion…and flames went over my whole car…I though [sic] my car was on fire,” said witness Debra Jackson.

Gascón explained on Monday that Ryan’s unborn child is included among the six murder charges, but the manslaughter charge cannot legally be applied in the case of the unborn baby, KABC noted.

Linton, who is a traveling nurse from Houston, Texas, only suffered minor injuries; one witness captured images of her sitting on the side of the street following the crash.

There was no evidence that alcohol was involved, Gascón said on Monday. He added that California Highway Patrol is still investigating the accident.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.

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