Priscilla Joyce Ford, who suf­fered from a vari­ety of men­tal ill­ness­es and who was the lone woman on Nevada’s death row for more than twen­ty years, died of appar­ent com­pli­ca­tions from emphy­se­ma on January 29, 2005. A prison spokesman said, ​“She had been qui­et for so long. No one ever had any prob­lems with her (in prison). I don’t remem­ber hear­ing about her vio­lat­ing any rules.” Ford was sen­tenced to death row after she was con­vict­ed of killing 6 peo­ple and injur­ing 23 oth­ers by dri­ving her car down a crowd­ed Reno side­walk on Thanksgiving Day 1980. Following the crime, a judge ordered that she receive men­tal health treat­ment so she would be com­pe­tent to stand tri­al. Ford had been a gift­ed teacher until her men­tal ill­ness emerged around 1970. During her 6‑month tri­al, it was revealed that Ford had been diag­nosed as a para­noid schiz­o­phrenic with vio­lent ten­den­cies, but she would not stay on the med­ica­tion that con­trolled her con­di­tion. She had been treat­ed and released from sev­en dif­fer­ent hos­pi­tals pri­or to her crime. Ford told peo­ple she was Christ, that she was the rein­car­na­tion of the founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and that she had God-like pow­ers and would smite her ene­mies.

Washoe County Assistant District Attorney John Helzer said Ford’s case and the sub­se­quent appeals cost tax­pay­ers a lot of mon­ey and unfair­ly caused vic­tims’ fam­i­lies to relive the tragedy. ​“That was such a sad case. It was such a tragedy for so many peo­ple,” Helzer not­ed. Ford’s death leaves 83 men on Nevada’s death row. 

(Reno Gazette-Journal and Associated Press, January 30, 2005). See Women, Life Without Parole, and Mental Illness.

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