MURDER CHARGE: Man Accused of Killing Palm Desert Teacher Jill Grant

A murder charge was filed Friday against a 42-year-old Indio man accused of killing his girlfriend, a 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 Monday Dec. 23, and Michael John Franco 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 a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

He was scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon at Larson Justice Center in Indio and he was being held in lieu of $5 million bail.

Indio Police Department spokesman Ben Guitron said Grant had sustained "multiple injuries," including fractures, but detectives were awaiting the coroner's report to determine the cause of death.

Investigators found evidence at Grant's residence in the 84-400 block of Onda Drive in Indio that allegedly linked her boyfriend to her death.

Franco was arrested Tuesday morning in a car in the 47200 block of Heliotrope Drive in Palm Desert by police who tracked him through his cell phone, Guitron said.

Sherry Johnstone, assistant superintendent for personnel at the Desert Sands Unified School District, said 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," Johnstone said.

Counselors will be available for students and staff when school resumes Jan. 6 after the holiday break, Johnstone said.

According to the district's website, 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.

Grant 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, and began teaching at her alma mater in 1998.

Reported by City News Service