Palm Desert High coach accused of killing woman while driving drunk is charged with murder

The Palm Desert High School teacher and coach suspected of hitting and killing a woman while driving under the influence has been charged with murder.

Cameron Curtis, 31, was arrested March 4 after the Riverside County Sheriff's Department received reports of a traffic collision involving a pedestrian. The woman, whose identity has not been released, died at the scene.

Manslaughter charges are more common in such cases, since a murder conviction generally requires proving a defendant intended to kill someone. But Curtis was charged with what is popularly referred to as a "Watson murder," in which prosecutors allege a person drove under the influence with deliberate disregard for human life.

In most Watson murder cases, the driver had a previous DUI or had been officially admonished about the possibility of such a potential charge during a prior offense.

Neither of these cases applies to Curtis, who has no criminal history in Riverside County, according to court records. The DA's office did not respond to The Desert Sun's inquiry about how it plans to meet that standard in this case.

The sheriff's department said Curtis struck a pedestrian while traveling east on Calliandra Street near Alamo Drive in a gray Nissan Frontier. The sheriff's department reported the woman was pronounced dead at the scene around 6 p.m.

The department reported that Curtis was suspected to be under the influence at the time of the collision and was booked at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside on $1 million bail.

He was formally charged with murder Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

A judge eliminated his ability to be released on bail Wednesday pending another hearing on the topic scheduled for March 17.

Curtis was hired as a football and baseball coach in 2016, became a substitute teacher and eventually a full-time English teacher at Palm Desert High this year. He underwent a standard background check prior to his employment, a spokesperson for Desert Sands Unified School District said.

Christopher Damien covers public safety and the criminal justice system. He can be reached at christopher.damien@desertsun.com or follow him at @chris_a_damien.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert High School's Cameron Curtis charged with murdering woman