Nicole Linton: Nurse who killed 6 in crash that ripped baby out of mother's womb says says she had 'lapse of consciousness'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The ICU nurse who killed 6 people during a horrific road accident in Los Angeles earlier this month was suffering from a ‘frightening’ mental health crisis on the day that led to the spine-chilling accident, claims new court records filled by her attorney.
The shocking revelation came in the form of a comprehensive filing by Nicole Linton’s lawyer, who insists that Linton was going through an 'apparent lapse of consciousness' when she blew through a red light at 90mph. The records placed in front of the court by the attorney, Jacqueline Sparagna deliver the most detailed narrative of the incident, which claimed the lives of a pregnant mother, her unborn child and one-year-old son, and four others.
ALSO READ
The motion and attachments obtained by The LA Times include details about Linton’s four-year-long battle with bipolar disorder and a determination by the doctors which claims that the nurse suffered an "apparent lapse of consciousness" at the time of the crash. Linton is currently in custody facing the charges of murdering 6 individuals. She is held behind the bars without any bail as the prosecutor believes her freedom is a "danger to the community."
The documents filed by her attorney paints a picture of a mentally-ill woman who lost her sanity over the period. Her attorney, in the filing, reveals that Linton was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder back in 2018 when she suffered her first mental breakdown. Her condition, they said, would then devolve to a 'frightening' point on the day of the August 4 crash, which saw her Facetime her sister completely naked just hours before the tragic road accident that her actions set off.
Disturbing security cam video of the catastrophic crash in Windsor Hills… New details NOW on @ABC7 Eyewitness News at 5pm pic.twitter.com/CQU6y3rHHv
— Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) August 4, 2022
“She has no recollection of the incident that led to her collision,” wrote doctor William Winter who treated Linton at Ronald Reagan UCLA medical center. “The next thing she recalled was lying on the pavement and seeing her car being groped by the thick fire flames” Winter added.
The documents further read Linton’s family first got to know about her disorder in May 2018 when she was working as a nursing student at the University of Texas in her native Houston. The stress was reportedly too much for her and it "broke" her. "Thus beginning the journey of Nicole's 4-year struggle with mental illness," claims a letter Nicole’s sister Camille Linton wrote to the court which was also documented by her defense attorney.
Judge denies Nicole Linton’s attorney request for $300,000 bail.
— MarlaTellez (@MarlaTellez) August 8, 2022
Linton reacts to judge’s ruling.
Next bail hearing set for Monday. pic.twitter.com/IoEhKXb0EZ
According to the letter, Nicole suffered a brutal breakdown in 2018 which led to her running out form her apartment while suffering a panic attack. The cops soon managed to locate her but as soon cops approached her, Linton climbed atop one of the officer service vehicles and was subsequently arrested for disorderly conduct. A few days after the arrest, the nurse again contacted her family and claimed that she was feeling uneasy because the spirit of her dead grandmother has possessed her.
More than a year later, Linton was involuntarily committed to another psych ward — this time because a neighbor called her family after seeing Linton running around her apartment complex nude, the attorneys wrote. The filing claims Linton’s mental health started deteriorating after she stopped taking her medicines. This behavior would go on unchecked until the days just before the August 4 crash, when it grew increasingly more concerning, the filing reveals. "In the days and hours leading up to the events of August 4, Nicole's behavior became increasingly frightening," wrote her attorneys.
On the day of the crash, Linton raised many red flags but her sister failed to see those flags, claims her attorney. The court paper further alleges that Nicole Linton called her sister on the day of the crash and FaceTimed while being completely naked. Her sister ignored the behavior thinking she was behaving erratically to trouble her. During the call, Linton also bizarrely claimed that she was getting married and that her sister "should meet her at the altar," the lawyers wrote.
Linton’s lawyer further claimed that the accident has left her confined to a wheelchair in jail. The attorneys further requested Linton’s release for testing at UCLA Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, and that she be allowed to wear an ankle monitor and stay under house arrest. Otherwise, they conceded, Linton should be released on a maximum bail of $300,000 bail, on the grounds that is all Linton could afford.