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Bail review hearing postponed for reckless LaBrea driver

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A judge postponed a bail review hearing Wednesday for a woman accused of running a red light and speeding into a Windsor Hills intersection, leading to a chain-reaction crash that killed six people, including an unborn baby.

Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, was ordered to remain jailed without bail pending the rescheduled hearing on Sept. 12.

Superior Court Judge Victoria Wilson granted the prosecution’s request for more time to seek additional documents involving Linton, a traveling nurse from Houston who was working at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center and is charged with six counts of murder and five counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence involving the Aug. 4 crash at La Brea and Slauson avenues.

Linton’s defense has suggested she might have experienced an “apparent lapse of consciousness” during a mental health crisis in the moments leading up to the crash, according to a document obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

She is accused of speeding her Mercedes into the intersection of La Brea and Slauson around 1:40 p.m. that afternoon, broadsiding a vehicle and causing a fiery, chain-reaction crash that killed 23-year-old Asherey Ryan of Los Angeles, who relatives said was 8 1/2 months pregnant.

Her unborn child, Armani Lester, also died in the crash and is considered a victim, along with Ryan’s 11-month-old son Alonzo Quintero and 24- year-old boyfriend, Reynold Lester of Los Angeles.

Also killed in the crash were Nathesia Lewis, 43, and her friend, 38-year-old Lynette Noble, who were in another car.

Eight other people were injured.

Linton was hospitalized after the crash, but survived. She was brought into the downtown Los Angeles courtroom in a wheelchair.

Information in a filing by Linton’s attorneys detail her four-year struggle with bipolar disorder and a determination by a doctor who treated her following the crash that “she has no recollection of the events that led to her collision,” The Times reported.

Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu asked the judge to delay the bail hearing, saying she believed “it would be better for everyone to have as much information as possible” about any alleged prior incidents involving mental health issues for Linton or any lapses in her taking medication.

“In the days and hours leading up to the events of August 4, Nicole’s behavior became increasingly frightening,” wrote her attorneys.

The day of the crash, Linton drove home from the hospital for lunch and FaceTimed her sister completely naked, according to the court papers.

She is set to be arraigned Oct. 26.

Our Weekly coverage of local news in Los Angeles County is supported by the Ethnic Media Sustainability Initiative, a program created by California Black Media and Ethnic Media Services to support minority-owned-and-operated community newspapers across California.

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