(Newser) – A California woman faces life in prison after authorities say she drove into oncoming traffic in an attempt to kill herself and instead killed an Oregon father and aspiring doctor driving to Sacramento to interview for a hospital residency, CBS News reports. According to People, authorities say on Jan. 7 28-year-old Grace Ward sat in her car in a median strip of Interstate 5 for over seven minutes and thought about suicide. Then she drove into oncoming traffic, Shasta County DA Stephanie Bridgett tells the Record Searchlight. She says Ward had near-misses with three cars before colliding with one being driven by 29-year-old Ryan Folsom. Ward broke her leg; Folsom was killed instantly.

Ward was arrested Tuesday after being released from the hospital. She faces charges of second-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of felony vandalism for damaging the median strip. "Ward made a choice that day. ... Her choice was very selfish," Bridgett says. "Her actions demonstrated a complete disregard for human life." She's being held on $1.5 million bail. Folsom, who played football and studied neuroscience at Brigham Young University, went to medical school at the University of Texas. He had two children, ages 2 and 4, and his wife is pregnant with a third. More than $300,000 has been raised for Folsom's family. (Read more murder stories.)

