A Placerville woman was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder after authorities say she struck and killed her ex-boyfriend in a head-on collision, according to an El Dorado County sheriff's spokesman.

Melissa Nichols, 23, faces vehicular manslaughter charges in connection with the fatal crash on Carson Road in Camino around 8 p.m. Thursday, El Dorado County sheriff's spokesman Phil Chovanec said.

A witness in Nichol's car said Nichols and the victim, 23-year-old Anthony James Payne, were talking to each other on Carson Road just before the crash.

When the conversation ended, the pair left the scene in different directions, Nichols heading eastbound in a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am and Payne westbound on a Honda 100 motorcycle.

Payne turned around, heading back eastbound toward Nichols when Chovanec said the woman intentionally crossed into Payne's lane and hit the motorcycle head-on. Payne was thrown nearly 200 feet and pronounced dead at the scene.

Nichols suffered minor injuries in the crash. The collision remained under investigation, Chovanec said.