A 43-year-old Coachella Valley advertising executive accused of fatally hitting a Cathedral City woman riding her scooter with her small dog aboard while he was drunk at the wheel was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday.

William Frank Rodriguez of Palm Springs was arrested and booked into the Benoit Detention Center in Indio on Monday after he was formally charged with murder, hit-and-run resulting in great bodily injury and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked driver’s license stemming from a previous DUI conviction.

Rodriguez, who is being held without bail, was scheduled to appear before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini at the Larson Justice Center on Wednesday afternoon. The defendant may be arraigned, or may only be appointed an

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