--- description: Ward allegedly admitted to investigators she intentionally drove into oncoming traffic on Jan. 7, in an attempt to kill herself. title: Suicidal Calif. Woman Allegedly Intentionally Drove Into Oncoming Traffic, Killing Young Father image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7696acaea40b0bdc/6988fa7e7cdbac4107d5bd09/shasa-county-da-grace-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Crime](/tag/crime/) ## Crime Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Suicidal Woman Drove Into Oncoming Traffic, Killing Young Father, Police Say by [Chris Harris / People](/author/people/) ## Chris Harris / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2018 4:48 PM CUT  Shasta County District Attorney/Facebook by [Chris Harris / People](/author/people/) ## Chris Harris / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 3, 2018 4:48 PM CUT A California woman is facing murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and vandalism charges for allegedly causing the Jan. 7 highway wreck that killed a 29-year-old married father-of-two in his fourth year of medical school, according to multiple reports. _The Redding Record Searchlight_ [obtained records](http://www.redding.com/story/news/crime/2018/01/31/da-adds-3-counts-attempted-murder-charges-death-aspiring-doctor-ryan-folsom/1085081001/?from=new-cookie "undefined") from the California Highway Patrol detailing the charges against Grace Elizabeth Ward, 28. The site reports Ward allegedly admitted to investigators [she intentionally drove into oncoming traffic](http://www.redding.com/story/news/crime/2018/01/31/da-adds-3-counts-attempted-murder-charges-death-aspiring-doctor-ryan-folsom/1085081001/?from=new-cookie "undefined") on Jan. 7, in an attempt to kill herself. Instead, Ward only broke her leg, but shattered another family. CBS.com reports authorities allege [she steered her vehicle onto I-5 in Redding](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/grace-ward-ryan-folsom-california-woman-charged-with-killing-driver-in-suicide-attempt/ "undefined"), and started driving the wrong way. Three cars managed to avoid her before she collided with the car being driven by Ryan Folsom. Folsom, according to KRCR News, [was an aspiring doctor](http://krcrtv.com/news/shasta-county/red-bluff-woman-charged-in-wrong-way-freeway-death "undefined"), who died on his way to an interview about a potential residency. Folsom is survived by his wife, Lauren, and their two sons, who are 4 and 2. Lauren Folsom is pregnant with their third child, according to police. Police allege [Ward collided with a median](http://www.redding.com/story/news/crime/2018/01/31/da-adds-3-counts-attempted-murder-charges-death-aspiring-doctor-ryan-folsom/1085081001/ "undefined") before finding an opening used by emergency vehicles, according to _the Record Searchlight_. After sitting between the two lanes of traffic for more than 7 minutes, authorities allege she turned onto the highway and accelerated, even steering into cars as they approached. Following the collision, Ward’s vehicle came to rest upside down in the center median. Folsom’s car ended up in a ditch along the highway. **_• For more compelling true crime coverage,_** [**_follow our Crime magazine_**](https://flipboard.com/@people/true-crime-khaiikfuy "undefined")**_on Flipboard._** Authorities allege that Ward called her mother before the suicide attempt, and [revealed her intention to kill herself.](http://people%20confirms%20through%20online%20records/ "undefined"). Ward is being held on $1.5 million bail, PEOPLE confirms through online records. She has yet to enter a plea to the charges against her, and her public defender was unavailable for comment Friday. _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/crime/suicidal-calif-woman-allegedly-killed-young-father/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_PEOPLE,com_](http://People.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5132021/california-suicidal-woman-drives-into-traffic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5132021/california-suicidal-woman-drives-into-traffic/"},"headline":"Suicidal Woman Drove Into Oncoming Traffic, Killing Young Father, Police Say","datePublished":"2018-02-03T16:48:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:08:04.532Z","description":"Ward allegedly admitted she drove into traffic in an attempt to kill herself","url":"https://time.com/5132021/california-suicidal-woman-drives-into-traffic/","keywords":["Crime","California","onetime","onetimecrime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7696acaea40b0bdc/6988fa7e7cdbac4107d5bd09/shasa-county-da-grace-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chris Harris / People"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7696acaea40b0bdc/6988fa7e7cdbac4107d5bd09/shasa-county-da-grace-ward.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Shasta-County-DA","caption":"Shasta-County-DA","creditText":"Shasta County District Attorney/Facebook","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/crime/","name":"Crime"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5132021/california-suicidal-woman-drives-into-traffic/","name":"Suicidal Woman Drove Into Oncoming Traffic, Killing Young Father, Police Say"}}]}] ```