Former nurse guilty of murder in high-speed crash that killed 6 in Windsor Hills
The woman who ran a red light at 130 mph and caused a crash that killed six people, including an unborn baby, was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder Friday and is facing life behind bars.
Jurors took only three hours to convict Nicole Linton, 41, in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. The charges stemmed from the Aug. 4, 2022, crash at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues.
Linton will be sentenced December 1.
Linton’s defense said she had suffered a seizure that prohibited her from stopping her Mercedes-Benz, leading to the crash.
23-year-old Asherey Ryan of Los Angeles, who as 8 1/2 months pregnant, along with her unborn child, her 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero and her 23-year-old boyfriend, Reynold Lester of Los Angeles, who were in a Jaguar that was split “in half” among those killed in the crash.
Nathesia Lewis, 43, and her friend, 38-year-old Lynette Noble were also killed.
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Linton and nine other people were injured in the crash.
Prosecutors said Linton walked off her shift as a traveling nurse at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center that afternoon, planning to quit, before deliberately maneuvering her car as she accelerated downhill toward the intersection.
The deputy district attorney also pointed to Linton’s bipolar disorder diagnosis and alleged failure to take her medication, as well as prior episodes of aggressive behavior. In one 2016 incident, prosecutors said she struck a woman before speeding away at roughly 100 mph and blowing through red lights.
Linton’s attorney, Jovan Blacknell, told jurors in his closing argument that the crash was “catastrophic” and that “the loss of life was horrendous,” citing “the emotion of it.”
Linton did not testify in her own defense during the trial.
Deputy Medical Examiner Vadims Poukens testified that all six victims died from traumatic injuries, with three sustaining burns after their deaths.
Linton originally faced six murder charges and five counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, but prosecutors dropped the manslaughter counts shortly before trial, court records show.
The California Highway Patrol arrested Linton the day of the crash, and she has remained jailed without bail.
Her sister Camille has defended her on a website supporting Linton, insisting the deadly crash “did not happen on purpose, but was a tragic accident.”