LA Crash Suspect's Ominous Text Revealed Before Fatal Bus, Chopper Wreck
The woman accused of killing two people when her SUV slammed into a Los Angeles Metro bus, setting off a chain of events that ended in a fiery NBC news helicopter crash, sent a chilling text to a close friend just hours before the tragedy.
Bailee Lynn Rios, the SUV driver, had been expressing serious fears to her friend Brad Aragon, who spoke exclusively to the California Post.
“Brad, it's not a joking matter on this bf thing its serious and im honestly scared but yes of course imma come see you,” read the text from Rios to Aragon at 1:24 p.m. Tuesday.
That message came only hours before her SUV smashed into the side of the Metro bus, killing Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46. The collision indirectly led to NBC's helicopter plummeting to the ground, killing pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno, as well as bystander Edy Gutierrez Mejia.
What did the suspect text her friend before the crash?
Aragon, who lives in Houston, said he and Rios had been planning for him to visit Los Angeles in October, with Rios set to pick him up from LAX. But he revealed she had been struggling recently.
“She was saying lately that she was associating with certain people that she shouldn't be associating with. I was going to help her with that,” Aragon said.
Authorities suspect Rios of reckless driving, running a red light, and possible driving under the influence.
Who is Bailee Rios and what was her background?
Aragon says he met Rios 11 years ago in LA while he was dealing drugs. The son of boxing great “Golden Boy” Art Aragon, he turned to dealing after his father died and he drove the family bail bonds business into the ground.
After being busted and facing five years in prison, Aragon says everyone abandoned him except Rios. “She went to rehab after I went to prison; she saw what it did,” he said.
Once released, Rios encouraged Aragon to start his YouTube channel, “The Federal Tool Box,” which helps convicts adjust to life after prison. “When I got out she was clean. She is the one person that didn't try to get me back into the old ways,” he said.
On the day of the crash, Aragon says Rios was proud of raising her credit score to 700, a goal they had worked on together. She had sent him a screenshot of the score.
“I thought she was on the straight-and-narrow path. I was surprised that she'd be so careless. She must be held accountable,” Aragon added.
What happens next for the suspect?
Rios' cousin, Katelyn Trinity, posted on Facebook: “I've never stopped loving you and praying for you and I promise I never will. No matter what. Right or wrong. Forever.”
Aragon, however, is blunt about the stakes: “To hear that she's done something like this, it's terrible. She could do 45 to life.”
The case raises serious questions about accountability, personal responsibility, and the consequences of poor associations, issues that resonate far beyond Los Angeles.