BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A man accused of intentionally crashing his car into another vehicle — fatally injuring Arvin educator Larry Hallum — had his preliminary hearing postponed on Thursday.
Marque Qualls, 26, is facing charges including first-degree murder in the Feb. 15 collision at the intersection of Old River Road and White Lane. Court documents filed by Bakersfield police say Qualls drove drunk and attempted to kill himself by crashing.
Qualls had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing — where a judge determines if there’s sufficient evidence for the case to proceed — on Friday, but the hearing was moved to July 20.
According to the documents, Qualls had a blood-alcohol content of 0.18%, more than twice the legal limit. He told police he sped up and intentionally ran a red light to hit Hallum’s vehicle “because he wanted to die,” reports say.
Hallum, 79, died in April from injuries suffered in the crash. He worked at Arvin High School for four decades and was a well-respected figure in the community.