Nurse Who Caused LA County Crash That Killed 6 Convicted Of Murder

LOS ANGELES, CA — A traveling nurse who ran a red light in Windsor Hills at 130 mph and caused a crash that killed six people, including an unborn baby, was convicted Friday of six counts of second-degree murder.

Jurors convicted Nicole Linton, 41, after roughly three hours of deliberations in downtown Los Angeles. The charges stemmed from the Aug. 4, 2022, crash at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues.

The jury began its deliberations at 9 a.m. Friday and announced it had reached its verdict by midday. Linton could be sent to prison for life when she is sentenced Dec. 1.

Linton's attorney contended during the trial that Linton suffered a seizure that left her unable to stop the speeding Mercedes-Benz.

Those killed in the crash included 23-year-old Asherey Ryan of Los Angeles, who relatives said was 8 1/2 months pregnant, along with her unborn child, who was to be named Armani Lester, 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."

Nathesia Lewis, 43, and her friend, 38-year-old Lynette Noble, who were in a Nissan, were also killed.

Authorities said nine other people, including Linton, were injured, with a total of nine vehicles involved in the collision and its aftermath.

At the start of her closing argument Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu played video of the deadly crash and the "chaos" that resulted and told jurors, "What you know now ... is this was an entirely preventable act."

"... She chose to do this. She did it knowingly and, most importantly, she was conscious," the prosecutor said. "She was conscious that entire time."

The deputy district attorney said Linton left her job as a traveling nurse at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center mid-shift that afternoon with intentions of quitting the assignment and steered her vehicle "with precision" as her speed increased as she drove downhill toward the intersection.

"You know she's not unconscious," Nistorescu said, telling jurors that the evidence is "inconsistent with her having a seizure."

The prosecutor noted that Linton had previously been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, failed to take her medication and had been involved in earlier incidents of violent or aggressive conduct, including a December 2016 run-in during which she allegedly hit a woman, drove away at about 100 mph and ran through red lights.

The deputy district attorney argued that Linton had "no history in any of her medical records of any seizures." She said the defendant engaged in six "behavioral episodes" during testing after the crash to try to trigger seizures, saying that the woman was "acting like she's having a seizure when she's not having a seizure" and that Linton had written earlier about not wanting to take accountability for her actions.

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."

He said the issue in dispute was "what was going on in Nicole's mind."

The defense lawyer maintained that she was "in no way angry or rageful" and had been driving "perfectly normal" after leaving work that day.

"... She did not know that she was going to have a seizure," Blacknell said. "Sometimes a medical emergency occurs while someone's driving. That's not murder."

Linton's attorney told jurors that an image on video showing her arm outside her car window just before the collision was "consistent with a rigid body part" — not with a phone in her hand — as the result of a seizure.

He contended there was only "minimal" movement of the steering wheel in the seconds leading up to the crash, saying it would be remarkable if Linton could have driven at that speed with only one hand on the steering wheel.

Blacknell acknowledged that a "tragic thing" occurred, but said "Nicole Linton didn't commit the crime of murder."

He noted that the only charge jurors can consider is murder.

In the prosecution's rebuttal argument, Deputy District Attorney Brittany Vannoy told the jury that Linton has "been on a collision course to disaster" in which she ignored her provocations and triggers, knew what was happening to her and "chose to get behind the wheel of a car and take her anger out" and "channeled that fury into her driving."

Vannoy urged the jury to hold the defendant accountable for the consequences of her actions.

Linton opted not to testify in her own defense during the trial, which included emotional testimony from people who witnessed the crash or its fiery aftermath.

Veronica Esquivel testified that she heard an "eerie sound" and knew something bad had happened, saying that "it surely sounded like people were dying."

She described seeing a baby flying through the air before landing on the ground at a gas station with pieces of his clothing missing, adding that she screamed for someone to help her with the baby before she ran from the scene.

Tonya Boyd testified that she followed two people, including one of the employees, with the injured baby into the convenience store, and that she tried to perform CPR on the baby, but heard "like a gurgling sound" and felt like the baby "was not alive."

"... The baby was not breathing," the witness said, growing emotional as she was asked to look at a photo of the baby on the convenience store's counter.

California Highway Patrol investigator Hector Castaneda noted that 25 areas of impact were documented, including the victims being thrown from the Jaguar after it was struck and split in half.

A now-retired CHP employee who examined Linton's vehicle after the crash said he didn't find any pre-existing conditions to the vehicle that would have contributed to the crash. He noted that the vehicle was in "pretty bad shape" after the collision and sustained a lot of thermal damage from the fire that ensued.

A doctor who spoke with Linton a day after the crash said the woman initially didn't seem to have much of a recollection what had happened, but then began to open up and tell her that her co-workers made her feel stupid and that she hated her job and had gotten into her car and left her job with the intention of quitting without telling anyone at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles.

She said Linton told her that she remembered waking up and feeling angry about people touching her asking if she was OK after the crash, and then feeling upset about seeing her car in flames because she had paid a lot of money for it.

Deputy Medical Examiner Vadims Poukens testified that the six victims all died from traumatic injuries, saying three suffered thermal injuries that occurred after they had already died.

During the defense's portion of the case, jurors heard from a neurologist who testified that he believed Linton had "likely suffered a seizure."

Under cross-examination, Dr. David Millett acknowledged that he was troubled early on about how she managed to navigate the road, but said he wasn't aware then of the photo showing Linton with her arm out the driver's side window that he said seemed consistent with a type of seizure that causes unconsciousness.

Firefighter/paramedic Richard Jimenez testified that he concluded that Linton was initially in an altered mental state after the crash and noticed that she repeatedly asked the same questions. But he said he couldn't diagnose whether she had a seizure that day.

Kimberly Linton told jurors that she spoke numerous times with her younger sister in the days and hours leading up to the crash, testifying that the things her sister had been discussing were unusual for her.

The woman said her sister had told her that her co-workers were acting weird and that she couldn't really explain what she meant.

In one call on WhatsApp the day of the crash, she said Linton popped into the video without any clothes on and then with a towel wrapped around herself without any explanation.

Kimberly Linton said her sister subsequently told her shortly before the crash to "get with the program" and "meet me at the altar," adding that she had no knowledge of her sister planning to get married or even being in a relationship at the time.

During the first day of testimony in the trial, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Eleanor Hunter sent jurors out of the courtroom after Linton gasped loudly when a gas station surveillance video was shown depicting the fireball that ensued after the crash.

"Ms. Linton, you're going to have to control yourself," the judge said. "We don't want this based on emotion ... Take a minute and compose yourself."

Linton was initially charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, but the less serious charges were dismissed after the prosecution announced at a hearing shortly before the trial began that it was not going to proceed with those counts, according to court records.

She was arrested by the California Highway Patrol on the day of the crash and remains behind bars without bail, jail records show.

On a website supporting Linton, one of her sisters, Camille, wrote that the crash "did not happen on purpose, but was a tragic accident."

"... She is someone who we love dearly and right now, so many people see her as this monster and a murderer, when she is one of the most compassionate and caring people that we know," the statement continued.

City News Service