Nicole Linton #
Introduction #
Nicole Lorraine Linton is a former traveling nurse from Houston, Texas, charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the August 4, 2022 crash at Windsor Hills in Los Angeles, in which prosecutors allege she drove her Mercedes-Benz through a red light at roughly 130 mph into crowded traffic, triggering a fiery multi-vehicle collision that killed six people, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child. She has pleaded not guilty, and her trial — delayed for years by pretrial litigation over her mental health — opened in Los Angeles the week of September 7, 2026, with opening statements beginning Tuesday, September 8. The case became one of the most notorious in recent Los Angeles history because the collision was captured on video and spread worldwide within hours.
Background Information #
Linton worked as a traveling nurse, a per-diem role that placed her in hospitals far from her Houston base, and was in Los Angeles when the crash occurred. Prosecutors told the court she had a documented history of driving infractions, including involvement in at least 13 prior crashes, one of which injured someone and totaled two vehicles in 2020. Her defense team, led by attorney Halim Dhanidina, has asserted that she had an out-of-state history of what Dhanidina called “profound mental health issues,” and a neurologist hired by her legal team testified that she had a history of seizures in her frontal lobe that could cause bizarre behaviors. Authorities confirmed there was no evidence she was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #
Adjudicated vs. alleged. Linton has been charged but not convicted: she has pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and the trial that opened September 2026 will decide those charges. Everything prosecutors assert about her driving — the speed, the red light, the five seconds of acceleration — remains an allegation unless and until proven in court. Court-ordered detention and the suspension of her nursing license by court order are matters of record.
According to prosecutors, Linton was driving her Mercedes-Benz at 122 mph five seconds before impact, accelerating to about 130 mph near the red light at Slauson and La Brea avenues with the accelerator depressed the entire time, before plowing into cross traffic at an intersection roughly 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The impact broadsided multiple vehicles, threw victims from cars, and set off intense fires that swept through the wreckage; nine other people were injured, and CHP investigators said the collision and its aftermath involved nine vehicles in total. Those killed were 23-year-old Asherey Ryan, who was eight and a half months pregnant; her unborn son, identified by the county medical examiner as Armani Lester; her 11-month-old son, Alonzo Quintero; her boyfriend or fiancé, 24-year-old Reynold Lester; and, in another vehicle, 43-year-old Nathesia Lewis and 38-year-old Lynette Noble. The family had been traveling to a prenatal appointment. Under California law, a separate manslaughter charge could not be filed for the fetus, so one murder count was filed for the unborn child. Prosecutors allege a psychiatric evaluation showed no indication she suffered a seizure while driving; her defense maintains she suffered a lapse of consciousness or mental health crisis.
Public Reaction and Consequences #
The crash’s surveillance video spread globally within a day, and mourners erected a makeshift memorial at the intersection that continues as a permanent installation; on the Sunday before trial, community members held a vigil with a sign reading “Remembering the Slauson 6.” Then-District Attorney George GascĂłn said, “A young family was destroyed in the blink of an eye,” adding that “there is catastrophic damage to the families and friends of those killed and injured.” Linton has been held without bail since her arrest, and her nursing license was suspended by court order following the arrest. On the trial’s first day of opening statements, September 8, 2026, family members in the gallery cried and stormed out of the courtroom after graphic footage — including images of Ryan’s unborn child — was shown; prosecutor Brittany Vannoy told jurors that a witness saw “a little baby flying over her head and lying at her feet,” and stated, “The defendant killed six people when she drove her Mercedes 130 miles per hour.”
Current Status #
The trial is underway in Los Angeles Superior Court as of September 8, 2026, with prosecutors presenting evidence of Linton’s driving history and the crash events while the defense presents its case about her medical and mental state. She remains in county jail under a no-bail hold and has pleaded not guilty to all counts; if convicted as charged, the 37-year-old faces a maximum sentence of 90 years to life. It remains unclear what role, if any, her mental health played in the moments before the collision — the central question the jury will decide. No verdict had been reached as of the latest reporting.
Impact on Their Career/Life #
Linton’s nursing career ended at the moment of her arrest: her license was suspended by court order, she lost her freedom under a no-bail murder hold, and the trial that began in September 2026 will determine whether she spends the rest of her life in prison. Her name is now permanently attached to one of Los Angeles’s deadliest traffic collisions, memorialized at the intersection where it happened and remembered each year by the community that lost six of its own, including an entire young family in one vehicle. The case also became a reference point in the debate over medical fitness to drive, with legal experts noting that prosecutors are expected to argue she knew of her mental-health history — as a nurse, “should know better” — before getting behind the wheel. Whatever the verdict, the “Slauson 6” vigil sign captures the grief that has outlasted four years of pretrial delay.