Nurse Nicole Lorraine Linton has pleaded not guilty in a fiery crash that killed six people at the Windsor Hills intersection in 2022

LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A nurse has pleaded not guilty to murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in connection with a fiery high-speed crash at a Windsor Hills intersection that killed six people, including an unborn baby, just over two years ago.

Nicole Lorraine Linton, now 39, remains jailed without bail in connection with the Aug. 4, 2022 crash at the intersection of La Brea and Slauson avenues.

After a hearing that included about 10 days of testimony and two days of arguments from attorneys, she was ordered to stand trial on August 2 on six counts of murder and five counts of gross driving negligence.

Much of that hearing focused on Linton's history of strange behavior in the years before the crash, including Internet searches that the judge noted were “rife with questions about suicide” and searches asking “Can you see your death coming.” ?” and “Why do I feel like death is near?” three days before the collision.

Investigators determined that Linton's black Mercedes-Benz was traveling at 130 miles per hour at the time of the accident, which occurred after the vehicle ran a red light. The collision and its violent aftermath were captured on surveillance video from a nearby business.

One of Linton's former lawyers, Caleb Mason, argued earlier this year that the technical data – along with the opinion of a neurologist who subsequently examined them at the defense's request – were consistent with the belief that his client suffered a seizure along the way got to the intersection.

Those killed in the crash included 23-year-old Asherey Ryan of Los Angeles, who relatives said was eight 1/2 months pregnant, as well as her unborn child, to be named Armani Lester, her 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero and her 24-year-old boyfriend, Reynold Lester of Los Angeles, who were in a Jaguar that, California Highway Patrol investigator Hector Castaneda testified, was split “in half.”

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

Nine other people, including Linton, were injured; a total of nine vehicles were involved in the collision and its consequences.

The CHP investigator testified that data from Linton's Mercedes-Benz showed the vehicle was traveling at 122 mph five seconds before the crash and had reached 130 mph at the time of impact, with the accelerator pedal held down for the entire five seconds was pressed before the collision.

CHP Patrol Officer Jeffrey Crain testified that there were several curves along La Brea where a driver had to steer to maintain his position on the road and said investigators obtained surveillance video from a business that showed a vehicle , which matched Linton's 2018 Mercedes-Benz appeared to be accelerating, and said that he estimated the initial speed at that time to be 55 mph and then 64 mph less than 20 seconds before the accident. He said it took the vehicle 17 seconds to travel half a mile – something that should have taken about 40 seconds in a 45 mph zone.

Crain noted that the traffic light was red for about 15 seconds before the accident.

“It’s graphic,” he said of a redacted photo taken from the collision site.

Mason told Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter earlier this year that his client was not in a state of mind consistent with murder and said the vast majority of her Internet research was done years before the crash .

The defense attorney called the deaths “horrific and tragic” but said “that doesn't mean it's murder.”

Assistant District Attorney Brittany Vannoy responded that there was “no question” that Linton caused the deaths, citing driving behavior that was dangerous to human life.

The prosecutor called Linton a “ticking time bomb” and said she got behind the wheel of her car despite being aware of “her triggers,” including stress and lack of sleep, based on her past behavior, which included jumping, according to the prosecutor said she stopped taking her medication in a Houston police officer's patrol car in 2018 before starting work as a travel nurse.

Linton's online research on the topic of “death is near” was evidence that she was “actively contemplating suicide,” Vannoy said.

The judge noted that evidence of Linton's previous incidents suggested her anger turned into aggression, saying she left a luncheon at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center on the day of the accident while “stressed out.” and “had all these symptoms that trigger them.” Fury.”

Hunter said the defendant knew she was undergoing an EEG test, recommended by doctors after the accident, to determine whether she was suffering from seizures, and that she had “certain movements and gestures” as she did during the test was triggered, but that the raw data indicated that it was “Not a seizure.”

“I don't know if that's a lie, but there's certainly an argument to be made for it,” the judge said, noting that the defendant had admitted lying in other cases.

Linton broke down in tears on the second day of this hearing when a witness described seeing a “big black cloud in front of me” after hearing what “sounded like a bomb or something” and seeing something that “what some of it looked like.” apocalyptic films.

Linton broke down in tears again as prosecutors showed a photo showing a cloud of smoke rising from the scene of the accident. The judge warned her: “I just don’t want anyone crying here. … We'll give her a second to calm down.” When the hearing resumed minutes later, Linton kept his head bowed as prosecutors played dramatic surveillance video showing the crash.

Isabel Schrama, a paramedic who witnessed the accident as she and her partner were on their way to another call, testified that she was riding in the ambulance with Linton when she was taken to the hospital and that a paramedic said that there were “several other cars and there were deaths.”

“She asked: Have I killed people? Did I hurt people?” Schrama testified, adding that the defendant was kind of “freaked out” and seemed “really worried” but was eventually able to give her own name and date of birth.

Paramedic Richard Jimenez, who responded to the scene, described Linton as having an “altered state of mind” but said she was able to remember her name and age at some point, but not how the accident occurred.

The prosecutor asked the paramedic: “You have seen other victims who were beyond saving?”

“Right,” the paramedic replied.

Dr. Kristen Lee, a psychiatric resident who met with Linton at a hospital twice after the accident, said Linton told her she remembered crying during the drive but didn't know why. She said the defendant denied any suicidal or homicidal thoughts, had two previous “mental health” hospitalizations and a history of bipolar disorder.

She said she was later called back to speak to Linton, who said: “I am a murderer. I am a murderer. The police officer just told me that I killed all those people.” She said Linton described what happened as “a nightmare and she just wanted to wake up.”

On a website supporting Linton, one of her sisters, Camille, wrote that the crash “was not intentional but was a tragic accident.”

“She's someone we love very much and right now so many people see her as this monster and a murderer, even though she's one of the most compassionate and caring people we know.”