Two Women Died at a Gilbert Red Light. Was the Ride Lyft or Uber?

The seconds before impact

The Gilbert Police Department’s November 27, 2025 update says Snell was traveling north on a green light. Witnesses reported that the Explorer ran the red light. Investigators estimated 89 to 96 mph in a posted 45-mph zone. The SUV rolled. Snell’s sedan spun into a signal pole.

The county attorney’s September 15, 2026 announcement adds an earlier moment. Witnesses and vehicle data showed Hintzsche weaving and failing to slow. He clipped another vehicle and pushed that driver toward a bike lane. That motorist was not injured.

Police said his blood-alcohol concentration was approximately 0.287. He was seriously injured and stayed in the hospital until his arrest on November 27, 2025. The November 27 update lists the counts as allegations. ABC15 reported that police originally recommended two counts of second-degree murder, three counts of endangerment, and one count of animal cruelty. The later sentencing announcement is about the two murder counts.

Which app the records name

The November 27 police update says 36-year-old Nicole Snell “was working as a Lyft driver” and had picked up 33-year-old Marisa Jorgenson. It spells the other driver’s name Robb Hintzche.

An earlier update on the same police page, posted September 20, 2025, calls her a rideshare driver. It does not say Uber or Lyft.

The county attorney’s announcement calls her a Lyft driver and spells the sentenced man’s name Robb Louis Hintzsche.

FOX 10’s September 22, 2025 story and its September 28, 2025 memorial call her an Uber driver. FOX 10’s sentencing report and ABC15 call her a rideshare driver and do not name a company.

The accident investigation is the speed, the signal, and the path of the vehicles. The app name comes from those trip accounts. They do not match.

Nicole Snell and Marisa Jorgenson

Jorgenson was the mother of two boys. FOX 10 reported their names as Ezra and Milo. In the September 22 story, her best friend Naomi Parker said, “She was ubering just to be safe,” and, “She wanted her whole life to be a mom.” Lucinda Ortiz, Snell’s mother, told FOX 10 the last text said, “I’m ubering.” The county attorney’s announcement describes Jorgenson as a 33-year-old mother of two.

Snell’s family remembered her as a free spirit who loved to travel. FOX 10’s memorial report described her work as a dental assistant and dog groomer and called her an Uber driver. Her family told FOX 10 she was on her last ride of the night and only two miles from home.

Snell’s dog was killed too. Police spelled the name Bellini. The county attorney’s release spells it Belini. A family member quoted by FOX 10 said Bernini. The two murder counts concerned Snell and Jorgenson.

What the 24 years represent

The county attorney announced the 24-year sentence on September 15, 2026. The office said Hintzsche pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, which it described as a Class One Dangerous Felony. FOX 10’s sentencing report said the judge imposed consecutive 12-year terms, one for each woman, and also described guilty pleas.

ABC15 reported a no-contest plea to the two murder counts. ABC15 named Judge Suzanne Marwil, reported credit for 267 days already served, said he agreed to a plea in June 2026, and placed the hearing on a Friday. That story does not print the Friday’s calendar date.

The case ended in a plea. There was no trial verdict on the two murder counts. Gilbert police, the county attorney, FOX 10, and ABC15 do not report a civil settlement, an insurance payout, or a finding about a rideshare company’s systems. That was still the state of those reports on November 10, 2026.

A trip record can show who was in the car and which company a witness or an agency named. Accident reconstruction can show speed, a signal, and the path of the vehicles. In Gilbert, the reconstruction describes the Explorer, the red light, the speed, and the failure to slow. It does not name the app.