LA Metro crash suspect sent chilling text hours before fatal wreck

The woman who was accused of killing two people when she slammed her SUV into a Los Angeles Metro bus — indirectly triggering a chain of events that ended in a fiery NBC news chopper crash — sent a disturbing text to a close friend just hours earlier.

Bailee Lynn Rios, the driver of the SUV, had “big concerns lately,” her close friend, Brad Aragon, told 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 a text from Rios to Aragon at 1:24 p.m. Tuesday — only hours before her SUV slammed into the side of the Metro bus.

Aragon, who lives in Houston, and Rios were planning for Aragon to come visit LA in October, and she was going to pick him up from LAX when he landed, Aragon told The Post.

“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.

Rios allegedly smashed into the bus about five hours after the text exchange, killing Gage Weida, 31, and Daniel Castillo, 46. 

The crash indirectly resulted in a horrific chain of events, leading to NBC’s chopper plummeting to the ground and killing the pilot, George Marciniw, and reporter Eliana Moreno. The helicopter also killed Edy Gutierrez Mejia, a bystander on the ground.

Follow The Post’s latest coverage of the heartbreaking NBC news fatal helicopter crash

“I thought she was on the straight-and-narrow path. I was surprised that she’d be so careless. She must be held accountable,” he added.

Authorities said Rios was suspected of reckless driving, running a red light and a possible DUI. 

Aragon says he met Rios 11 years ago in LA when he was dealing drugs. Aragon, son of the boxing great “Golden Boy” Art Aragon, said he became a drug dealer after his dad died and when he subsequently drove his father’s company, Aragon Bail Bonds, into the ground.

The dealer was ultimately busted and faced five years behind bars. “Everyone turned their back on me but Bailee,” he said. “She went to rehab after I went to prison; she saw what it did.”

Rios encouraged Aragon to start his YouTube channel, “The Federal Tool Box,” once he got out of prison. The channel helps convicts adjust to life after serving their sentences.

“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.

The day of the crash, Aragon says Rios was proud that she had gotten her credit score up to 700, something she had been working on with his help. She had sent Aragon a screenshot of the score.

Rios’ cousin, Katelyn Trinity, posted on her Facebook Page: “I’ve never stopped loving you and praying for you and I promise I never will. No matter what. Right or wrong. Forever.”

“To hear that she’s done something like this, it’s terrible. She could do 45 to life,” Aragon said.

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