Murder charges filed against Palm Springs man in DUI hit-and-run death

A murder charge was filed today against a Palm Springs mansuspected of fatally striking a 70-year-old bicyclist while driving under theinfluence in Cathedral City.

Brandon Royce Melton, 27, is also charged with DUI gross vehicularmanslaughter and hit-and-run resulting in death or injury. He is scheduled tobe arraigned on the three felony charges this afternoon at the Larson JusticeCenter in Indio.

Melton was arrested around 9:10 p.m. Saturday, about an hour and 15minutes after allegedly fleeing the scene of the crash in the 67300 block ofEast Palm Canyon Drive.

The victim, Edward James Shaieb of Cathedral City, died at the scene. Hewasn’t wearing a helmet, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s Office.

A witness reported that the suspect’s vehicle, a green Jeep, was driveninto Palm Springs, Cathedral City police Capt. Chuck Robinson said.

“Several minutes later, Palm Springs Police Department called us andsaid the hit-and-run driver was on their 911 system, reporting that he had beeninvolved in the collision,” Robinson said.

Cathedral City police went to the 3700 block of East Camino Simeon inPalm Springs and arrested Melton. Because he has a previous DUI conviction, theinvestigation was “handled as a vehicular homicide rather than a vehicularmanslaughter,” Robinson said.

Under California’s so-called Watson murder rule, named after a precedent-setting 1981 state Supreme Court case, a person driving under the influencein a fatal crash can be charged with second-degree murder, including instanceswhen the defendant has a previous DUI conviction.

Melton pleaded guilty in December 2007 to a misdemeanor DUI charge –which included an enhancement of having a .15 blood alcohol level — and wassentenced to three years’ probation, according to court records.

Melton is being held at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility inBanning in lieu of $1 million bail.