Nicole Linton

Introduction

Nicole Lorraine Linton is a former traveling nurse from Houston, Texas, convicted on October 2, 2026 of six counts of second-degree murder for the August 4, 2022 crash at Windsor Hills in Los Angeles, in which prosecutors said 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 was charged in the weeks after the crash and 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. 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 working at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center when the crash occurred. Prosecutors said she walked off her shift at the hospital the afternoon of the crash, planning to quit, before getting behind the wheel. At trial, the deputy district attorney pointed to her bipolar disorder diagnosis and alleged failure to take her medication, as well as prior episodes of aggressive behavior — including, prosecutors said, a 2016 incident in which she struck a woman before speeding away at roughly 100 mph and blowing through red lights. Her defense team, led at opening statements by attorney Halim Dhanidina, asserted she had an out-of-state history of what Dhanidina called “profound mental health issues,” and a neurologist hired by her legal team testified she had a history of seizures in her frontal lobe that could cause bizarre behaviors.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated. On October 2, 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Linton guilty of six counts of second-degree murder, rejecting the defense’s seizure account; prosecutors had dropped five gross vehicular manslaughter counts shortly before trial. Sentencing had not yet occurred as of the latest reporting, and she remained jailed without bail. What she asserted about her own conduct — a seizure that prevented her from stopping — was the defense the jury heard and did not accept.

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 without braking, deliberately maneuvering the car as she sped downhill toward the intersection, before plowing into cross traffic 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; Linton and nine other people were injured, and 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 child; her 11-month-old son, Alonzo Quintero; and her boyfriend, Reynold Lester, who were in a Jaguar that was split “in half,” as well as 43-year-old Nathesia Lewis and her friend, 38-year-old Lynette Noble, in another vehicle. The family had been traveling to a prenatal appointment. Deputy Medical Examiner Vadims Poukens testified that all six victims died from traumatic injuries, with three sustaining burns after their deaths. Linton’s defense told jurors she had suffered a seizure that prohibited her from stopping the Mercedes-Benz, and asserted she was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, was not on her phone, and was not racing; Linton did not testify in her own defense. Her attorney Jovan Blacknell acknowledged in closing arguments that the crash was “catastrophic” and “the loss of life was horrendous,” while urging the jury to weigh “the emotion of it.” Jurors convicted her on all six murder counts after roughly three hours of deliberation.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The crash’s surveillance video spread globally within a day, mourners erected a makeshift memorial at the intersection that continues as a permanent installation, and on the Sunday before trial community members held a vigil with a sign reading “Remembering the Slauson 6.” Then-District Attorney George Gascón 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.” 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.” Linton’s sister Camille has defended her on a website supporting her, insisting the deadly crash “did not happen on purpose, but was a tragic accident.”

Current Status

Linton was found guilty on October 2, 2026 of six counts of second-degree murder in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom after a trial that began with opening statements on September 8, 2026; prosecutors dropped the five gross vehicular manslaughter counts shortly before trial. She faces up to 90 years to life in state prison when sentenced. The California Highway Patrol arrested her the day of the crash, and she has remained jailed without bail since. Her nursing license was suspended by court order while she awaited trial.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Linton’s nursing career ended at the moment of her arrest: her license was suspended by court order, and she has been in county jail under a no-bail hold since August 2022 — more than four years that ended in murder convictions rather than the mental-health defense her lawyers built. 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 prosecutors arguing that Linton — a nurse with a diagnosed bipolar disorder and an alleged history of not taking her medication — knew the risks of getting behind the wheel. Whatever remains of her future will be decided at sentencing, where the “Slauson 6” vigil sign captures the grief that has outlasted four years of pretrial delay and a three-hour verdict.

Sources

New York Post, “Former nurse guilty of murder in high-speed crash that killed 6 in Windsor Hills,” Oct. 2, 2026 — source
@nypost on X, trigger post, Oct. 3, 2026 — source
FOX 11 Los Angeles, “Nicole Linton trial opening statements,” Sept. 2026 — source
ABC7 Los Angeles, “Nicole Linton murder trial opening statements set to begin: Woman accused in deadly high-speed Windsor Hills crash,” Sept. 2026 — source
Los Angeles Magazine, “Nurse accused of fiery crash that killed 6 enters pretrial stage next month,” 2026 — source
New York Post, “Family of victims in 130mph LA crash storm out of court at Nicole Linton trial,” Sept. 8, 2026 — source
Yahoo News, “Trial begins for nurse charged with murder,” Sept. 2026 — source
The Pride LA, “Windsor Hills crash trial begins for former nurse Nicole Linton,” Sept. 2026 — source