Preliminary hearing resumes today for Silvercrest CEO charged with murder in Cathedral City hit-and-run

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) The preliminary hearing for Silvercrest Advertising CEO William "Billy" Rodriguez resumes Monday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, four weeks after a full day of testimony ended without a ruling.

Rodriguez, 44, is charged with murder, felony hit-and-run causing death and driving on a suspended license in the October 2024 crash that killed 60-year-old Christina Barrington in Cathedral City. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on $2 million bail.

The hearing is scheduled to pick back up Monday morning before Judge John Ryan, who set the date after testimony ran a full day on Aug. 3. At its conclusion, Ryan will decide whether enough evidence exists for Rodriguez to stand trial, a far lower standard than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Barrington was riding her scooter with her small dog along East Palm Canyon Drive near Bankside Drive just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 11, 2024, wearing a reflective safety vest, when prosecutors say Rodriguez struck her from behind in a black Porsche Cayenne and drove away. She died the next day. Her scooter was dragged roughly 1,400 feet.

Five Cathedral City police officers testified during the hearing's first day.

Investigators told the court they used surveillance video from an Angel View thrift store and the measured distance to the crash site to calculate the Porsche's speed at 65 mph in a 45 mph zone. Video from a nearby car wash showed the scooter dragging beneath the SUV, an officer testified, and the brake lights never came on.

Officers also walked through Rodriguez's night before the crash: a suite at Acrisure Arena during an Eric Clapton concert, followed by two bars in downtown Palm Springs, Quadz and Dick's on Arenas. Surveillance video captured him leaving the second bar minutes before the crash, appearing unsteady and losing his balance stepping off a curb, according to testimony.

The Porsche, registered to a Rancho Mirage address, was seized three days after the crash with front-end damage and orange paint transfer, a sergeant testified. Barrington's scooter was orange. The lead investigator told the court a search of the home days later turned up the Porsche keys, a cellphone linked to Rodriguez and a newly purchased surveillance camera bought the day after the seizure.

Defense attorneys pushed back throughout the day, noting no blood-alcohol test was ever performed and no witness has identified who was behind the wheel.

The murder charge rests on Rodriguez's 2013 DUI conviction in Los Angeles County, which prosecutors say put him on formal notice of the dangers of impaired driving. His license had been suspended since that conviction and was never reinstated, according to court records reviewed by News Channel 3.

Barrington's daughter, Christiana Lewis, is separately suing Rodriguez, Silvercrest Advertising and the City of Cathedral City in a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging in part a burnt-out streetlight left the crash site in a dangerous condition.