Former boyfriend pleads not guilty in slaying of PDHS teacher

A 44-year-old ex-con pleaded not guilty Thursday to murdering his girlfriend, a Coachella Valley native and popular Palm Desert High School math teacher.

The body of Jill Grant, 41, was discovered in a dirt area near Golf Center Parkway and Avenue 42 in Indio on Dec. 23, 2013, and Michael John Franco of Indio was arrested in Palm Desert the following day.

In addition to murder, Franco faces one felony count each of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm, and sentence-enhancing allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

He is scheduled to return to court for a trial-readiness conference on Feb. 2.

Franco, who’s being held in lieu of $5 million bail, was ordered to stand trial on Dec 3.

Investigators found evidence at Grant’s residence in the 84400 block of Onda Drive in Indio that linked her boyfriend to her death, an Indio Police Department spokesman alleged at the time of the defendant’s arrest.

Grant suffered multiple injuries; the criminal complaint lists a Toyota Prius and a box cutter as weapons used in the killing.

Sherry Johnstone, assistant superintendent for personnel at the Desert Sands Unified School District, said in 2013 that Grant was “a beloved teacher and part of the Desert Sands family for many years.”

“We are grief-stricken — students, faculty, staff … Everyone loved Jill and this is a horrible tragedy,” she said.

Grant grew up in the Santa Rosa Mountains above Palm Springs and attended Palm Desert Middle School and Palm Desert High School, graduating in 1990. She attended College of the Desert, then transferred to Cal State San Bernardino, where she majored in mathematics.

She taught math at Palm Springs High School for three years, starting in 1995, then began teaching at her alma mater in 1998.

According to the criminal complaint, Franco was convicted of felony robbery in Alameda County in June 1990.