Simi Valley woman faces murder charge over multifatality Chatsworth collision

A 36-year-old Simi Valley woman has been charged with two counts of murder after prosecutors say the SUV she was driving while impaired crashed into a Metro bus in Chatsworth on Sept. 15, killing two people and setting off a chain of tragedy that claimed three more lives when a news helicopter covering the scene went down nearby.

The Los Angeles Police Department identified the driver as Bailee Lynn Rios, who was injured in the collision and later booked on suspicion of murder. She is being held on $4 million bail, according to the Simi Valley Acorn, which first reported the charges for a Simi Valley audience.

What happened on De Soto Avenue

According to an LAPD media release, the crash occurred around 5 p.m. when a gray 2004 Ford Expedition driven by Rios was traveling the wrong way in the northbound lanes of De Soto Avenue. The SUV ran a red light at Nordhoff Street, nearly colliding with an eastbound vehicle, before striking a Metro Line 166 bus traveling east on De Soto.

The impact fully ejected one bus passenger and partially ejected a second, police said. Debris also damaged a vehicle stopped facing north on De Soto at Nordhoff. One passenger suffered severe injuries; others' injuries were described as non-life-threatening. Six people were transported to hospitals.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner identified the two people killed in the bus crash as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Weida, a Los Angeles resident originally from Eldridge, Iowa, worked in sales for Harper Jaguar, according to his Facebook page. His girlfriend, Autumn Reiff, wrote in a Facebook tribute that the couple had been together for nearly a decade, describing Weida as "my other half" and saying, "My world is shattered."

A second tragedy in the sky

While news crews responded to cover the bus crash, a helicopter carrying a journalist and pilot for NBC4 and Telemundo 52 went down between two commercial buildings near the scene, killing all aboard and a pedestrian on the ground.

Killed in the helicopter crash were journalist Eliana Moreno, pilot George Marciniw, and 29-year-old pedestrian Edy Gutierrez Mejia. The pair had been providing aerial coverage of the bus crash when the aircraft went down, according to the Acorn.

Sixty-seven Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters responded after the helicopter crashed, the LAFD said. Crews extinguished the fire and prevented damage to surrounding commercial structures, though four automobiles and two storage containers sustained fire damage.

Colleagues mourned Moreno and Marciniw in a social media tribute, writing, "Tonight, we are mourning. Our hearts are broken." NBC4 described the pair as "the eyes and ears in the sky" for the two newsrooms. They had flown together since 2023, and Marciniw was a veteran pilot with more than 30 years of flight experience.

The crash carries particular resonance for Simi Valley residents: in May, Moreno and Marciniw covered the Sandy Fire in Simi Valley for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.

Moreno was a Southern California native and Chapman University graduate, a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and was engaged to be married. She joined the Angel City Air Team in 2010. Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School.

The charges and Rios's history

Rios, a 2008 Simi Valley High School graduate, was booked Sept. 16 on suspicion of murder. On Sept. 17, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced charges of two counts of murder, one felony count of driving under the influence of a drug causing injury, and one misdemeanor count of reckless driving on a highway.

"First and foremost, my heart is with the families mourning the loss of their loved ones and everyone who was affected by this devastating crash," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement. He said Rios "made the choice to drive while impaired on the wrong side of the road through a red light well above the speed limit," adding that his office will hold her accountable "under the maximum penalty of the law which is life in prison."

If convicted, Rios faces a maximum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Court records reviewed by the Acorn show a history of prior encounters with the justice system. Ventura County Superior Court records show Rios was found guilty in 2022 of driving while her driving privileges were revoked. Charges of being under the influence and possessing a controlled substance were dismissed after she completed a four-month judicial diversion program that required participation in Narcotics Anonymous. She also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug possession in 2016. The Acorn reported she had additional drug-related arrests, as well as an auto theft arrest, in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties between 2023 and 2024.

Investigators say Rios was under the influence at the time of the crash and that narcotics were found inside her vehicle.

What comes next

Rios was scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 18 at Los Angeles Superior Court in San Fernando. She was wheeled into the courthouse on a gurney but never appeared before a judge after her attorneys argued she was unable to participate. Her arraignment was postponed.

The circumstances surrounding both the bus collision and the helicopter crash remain under investigation. Authorities have asked anyone with information about the bus collision to come forward.

For Simi Valley residents, the case is a stark reminder of how quickly impaired driving can escalate into catastrophe — and how a community's connections to a regional tragedy can run closer to home than expected, from a Simi Valley High graduate in the defendant's seat to a news crew that had covered a fire in town just months earlier.