An aspiring doctor, Ryan Folsom, was heading to a job interview in Sacramento, California on Jan. 7, when he was struck by a car driving into oncoming traffic on Interstate 5, just south of Knighton Road.
Grace Elizabeth Ward, who was in the other car, had spent 7 minutes and 29 seconds sitting in the median strip contemplating suicide. After hanging up on a phone call with her mother to tell her that she decided to take her own life. She then turned her vehicle, drove through an opening in the cable meant for emergency vehicles and accelerated towards incoming traffic.
Three vehicles managed to narrowly escape colliding with Ward, 28, before her car crashed into Folsom’s car. The cars collided with so much force that it sent Folsom’s car into a ditch on the side of I-5.
Her car eventually came to a stop upside down in the center median.
Folsom lost his life that day, while Ward suffered a broken leg.
The 29-year-old aspiring doctor was a husband and a father of two—a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. His wife was expecting their third child in January.
“Her actions demonstrated a complete disregard for human life,” she added.
The 28-year-old is now facing one count of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of vandalism.
