Bailee Lynn Rios sent a disturbing text message to a close friend just hours before her SUV slammed into a Los Angeles Metro bus, killing two people and setting off a chain reaction that claimed three more lives.
Rios, the driver at the center of Tuesday’s catastrophic crash, texted Brad Aragon at 1:24 p.m. That afternoon with an ominous warning about her personal life. “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,” she wrote to Aragon, a Houston resident who had been planning to visit Los Angeles in October.
Aragon, 35, told The Post that Rios had been struggling with her associations in recent weeks. “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,” he said. The pair had known each other for 11 years, meeting in Los Angeles when Aragon was dealing drugs.
The crash occurred roughly five hours after that text exchange, when authorities say Rios ran a red light and slammed her SUV into the side of the Metro bus. The collision killed bus passengers Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46. The wreck also created traffic chaos that indirectly caused an NBC news helicopter to crash, killing pilot George Marciniw, reporter Eliana Moreno, and bystander Edy Gutierrez Mejia on the ground.
Aragon’s own history with Rios stretches back to his darkest period. The son of boxing legend “Golden Boy” Art Aragon, he turned to drug dealing after his father’s death and the collapse of Aragon Bail Bonds. When he was arrested and faced five years in prison, he says Rios stood by him when others abandoned him. “Everyone turned their back on me but Bailee,” he recalled. “She went to rehab after I went to prison; she saw what it did.”
After his release, Rios pushed Aragon to launch his YouTube channel, “The Federal Tool Box,” which helps former convicts adjust to life outside 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 morning of the crash, Rios had been celebrating a personal milestone with Aragon’s help. She sent him a screenshot showing her credit score had reached 700, something she had worked toward diligently. “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 stated.
Authorities have said Rios is suspected of reckless driving, running a red light, and possible DUI in connection with the crash.
Rios’ cousin, Katelyn Trinity, took to Facebook to express her continued loyalty despite the devastating consequences. “I’ve never stopped loving you and praying for you and I promise I never will. No matter what. Right or wrong. Forever,” she posted publicly.
Aragon, reflecting on the potential legal consequences for his friend, predicted a severe sentence. “To hear that she’s done something like this, it’s terrible. She could do 45 to life,” he said.
The six deaths make the incident one of the most deadly traffic-related tragedies in recent Los Angeles history, spanning two separate crash scenes connected by the initial collision Rios allegedly caused.
Rios remains the central figure in an ongoing investigation by Los Angeles authorities.