Trial proceedings start for ex-Palm Desert teacher/coach accused of killing pedestrian

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Pretrial motions got underway today ahead of jury selection for the trial of a former Palm Desert High School football coach accused of running over and killing a 64-year-old woman while driving under the influence.

Cameron Francis Curtis, 33, of Palm Desert allegedly fatally struck Nancy Valdes, also of Palm Desert, in 2023.   

Curtis is charged with second-degree murder.   

His case was transferred from the Larson Justice Center in Indio to the Riverside Hall of Justice Thursday, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz received motions from the prosecution and defense concerning evidence, witnesses, scheduling and other matters.

Jury selection is slated to start early next week. Curtis is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.   

Sheriff's Deputy Page Broughton testified in an October 2023 preliminary hearing that on the evening of March 4, 2023, there was a call to investigate reports of a pedestrian down, and the deputy found Valdes dead in the intersection of Calliandra Street and Alamo Drive.

Broughton said the defendant was located stopped at the intersection in a Nissan Frontier pickup truck. He was detained without incident.   

Valdes was a caretaker for a local senior and had just left to walk the woman's dog when she was hit while crossing the street, according to Broughton.

Detectives later determined that Curtis had allegedly been drinking alone that afternoon for almost three hours at Stuft Pizza, two miles from the collision.

Based on restaurant receipts, the defendant drank 91 ounces of beer and two shots of hard liquor before leaving, according to investigators. A bartender told detectives that Curtis was a regular customer and routinely sat at the bar for hours before leaving.

Deputy Joshua Kemper testified that when he arrived at the fatality, Curtis told him he was aware of what he had done and had "bloodshot watery eyes, slurred speech, (and) strong odor of alcohol emitting from his breath."  

Though the defendant had no prior driving under the influence convictions, by way of his then-position as a teacher and coach, he had participated in "Every 15 Minutes" programs, which provide beginning to end reenactments of a DUI tragedy, complete with emergency medical treatment, an arrest, conviction and burial service -- all for the benefit of high school students learning the rules of the road.

According to prosecutors, during his two-mile trip home, Curtis allegedly maneuvered around traffic to avoid a stoplight and then blew through a stop sign on eastbound Calliandra Street before hitting the victim.    The defendant is no longer employed by the Desert Sands Unified School
District.