Los Angeles County DA George Gascon opposes bail for Texas nurse charged with killing six in fiery crash

Los Angeles prosecutors, on Friday submitted a motion opposing bail for a woman accused of killing six people in a fiery wreck last month, arguing against defense claims that she lost consciousness before the crash. 

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Nicole Linton, a traveling nurse from Texas, remains a danger to the public and should be considered a flight risk. 

“In an attempt to paint what we know was a horrific conscious act as an accident, the defense has conflated the possibility of (the) defendant suffering a mental health episode prior to the crash with the now defunct notion of loss of consciousness at the time of the crash,” the motion states.

Linton is facing murder charges after allegedly barreling a Mercedes-Benz at 90 mph through an intersection in Los Angeles’ Windsor Hills section on Aug. 4, sparking a fiery crash that killed six, including a pregnant woman, her unborn child, her boyfriend, and the woman’s 11-month-old infant son. 

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Further analysis revealed that Linton was actually going 130 mph at the time of impact and floored the gas pedal at least five seconds leading into the crash in what prosecutors called a “NASCAR-worthy performance.” 

Evidence from the vehicle’s recorded data and surveillance video of the crash indicated Linton had control of the car, the motion states. 

In the aftermath of the crash, Linton was treated at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center by Dr. William Winter, who wrote in an Aug. 6 evaluation that she experienced an “apparent lapse of consciousness” leading up to the wreck captured on disturbing surveillance video.

Experts at UCLA determined she did not suffer a “medical event such as a syncope or seizure” and that her lack of recollection was likely the result of a psychiatric episode or trauma from the crash, prosecutors said. 

The motion also noted that Linton had three prior speeding violations and two collisions caused by her, authorities said. She also failed to appear in court “numerous times” after being summoned, the motion states, resulting in her driver’s license being suspended in New York. 

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Prosecutors also said Linton has a history of violent behavior, including a December 2016 incident in which she was kicked out of a nightclub after using racial slurs during a drunken argument with other patrons. 

A defense motion filed last month said Linton’s family first became aware of her mental health issues in May 2018. A letter from Linton’s sister, Camille Linton, said that Nicole experienced her first mental breakdown while studying to become a nursing anesthetist at the University of Texas in Houston. 

“The stress was too much for her and it ‘broke’ her,” Camille Linton wrote. “Thus beginning the journey of Nicole’s 4-year struggle with mental illness.”

At the time of the crash, Nicole Linton had been working for West Los Angeles Medical Center. She had expressed to her sister that her co-workers were “acting weird” toward her. 

Authorities are requesting Linton be held without bail and receive any needed medical attention in jail. 

“The prosecution in no ways intends to deprive Defendant of medically necessary health treatment,” the motion reads. “Given the circumstances of the offenses and her history, keeping Defendant in custody is the only reasonable way to accomplish this while also preventing future serious harm to the public.”

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.