UPDATED: Palm Desert HS Coach Charged With Murder in Fatal Crash

INDIO (CNS) – A Palm Desert High School teacher and football coach pleaded not guilty to murder Wednesday for allegedly striking and killing a pedestrian while intoxicated over the weekend.

Cameron Francis Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert additionally denied a sentence enhancing allegation of causing great bodily injury Wednesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to court records.

The crash was reported at 6:09 p.m. Saturday at Calliandra Street and Alamo Drive, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

A gray Nissan Frontier going eastbound on Calliandra at an unknown speed struck a woman who was walking along the street, according to Sgt. Shaun Griffith of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Intoxication appears to have played a role in this collision,” Griffith said.

Curtis was detained at the scene and subsequently booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, where he remains held on $1 million bail.

The sheriff’s Palm Desert station urged anyone with information regarding the crash to call them at 760-836-1600. Tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 800-782-7463 or 800-473-7847.

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