[Updated: Fri., May 23, 2025, 4:40pm]
Carly Grace Howard, the 24-year-old woman critically injured by an alleged drunk driver in a head-on crash on Highway 154 in Santa Barbara earlier this month, has died after being taken off life support over the weekend, her family said.
“Around 1:00 a.m. this morning, Carly passed away peacefully and is in Heaven with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” her family shared in an update on their GoFundMe on Wednesday.
Howard was driving to work on May 1 shortly before 7 a.m. when suspected drunk driver Katelyn Fultz, 28, reportedly drove her truck across double yellow lines and crashed head-on with Howard’s sedan. After it was determined her brain had been irreparably damaged in the crash, Howard was taken off life support on Sunday, the family said.
Fultz remains in custody at the Northern Branch Jail on charges of DUI causing injury, driving with a .08% blood alcohol causing injury, and driving without a license, with bail set at $250,000. She also faces several special enhancements, including having a BAC of 0.15 percent or greater, injuring multiple victims, and others. Fultz has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied all enhancements.
Following Howard’s death, the county District Attorney’s Office on Friday filed an amended complaint to charge Fultz with one felony count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. The DA’s office also added a further allegation that Fultz proximately caused death or bodily injury to more than one victim. The case is set for a preliminary hearing setting on June 10 in Department 11 of the Santa Barbara Superior Court.
