Who is Nicole Linton? Nurse convicted of murder in 2022 Los Angeles car crash that killed 6, including an unborn baby

A nurse who rammed her speeding Mercedes sedan into a crowded Los Angeles intersection was on Friday (October 2) convicted of murder. Jurors rejected an argument that she had a seizure while driving, after deliberating for about three hours. The collision, which had occurred in August 2022, killed six people, including Nathesia Lewis, 42; Lynette Noble, 38; Asherey Ryan, 23; Ryan’s 11-month-old son, Alonzo; and Ryan’s boyfriend, Reynold Lester, 23, and Ryan's unborn baby.

'Wreckage that looked like warzone'

Los Angeles County District Attorney (DA) Nathan Hochman said in a statement on Friday that Nicole Linton, 41, used her car "as a high-speed missile," adding that the incident left "heartbreaking wreckage that looked like a war zone, traumatizing survivors and witnesses." She has been convicted on six counts of second-degree murder in connection with the crash.


Prosecutors said that Linton was furious with her coworkers and thinking about quitting her job at a hospital in West LA when she drove down La Brea Avenue. After the crash, the intersection was littered with burning car parts as block smoke filled the sky.

Linton's history of mental health issues

Prosecutors argued that Linton had a history of mental health issues and failed to address them. She had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was involved in several documented incidents of violence and problematic driving when she had gone off her medication, according to Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Antonella Nistorescu. The incidents included a 2020 traffic collision that led to bodily injury.

Linton had not taken her medication and had not slept for days before the deadly crash, according to prosecutors. "The only person who could have prevented this is Nicole Linton," Nistorescu said in her closing argument on Thursday. "The only person who knew that when she got behind the wheel of her Mercedes that she was under the same stressors, exhibiting the same symptoms that had led her before to engage in violent, aggressive actions that brought harm to others."

Linton’s sentencing hearing

Linton’s defense argued that she was being put in prison for a tragic accident. "The results were catastrophic. The images are visceral. And the loss of life was horrendous," defense attorney Jovan Blacknell said. "But as much as I do want to acknowledge what occurred, and acknowledge the people who were injured, the people who died, those images don’t help you answer the question you are here to answer." Linton faces life in prison at her sentencing hearing, due on December 1.