May 23—A man who's accused of driving intoxicated and colliding into a beloved Arvin High School teacher told police he intentionally hit the educator's car because he wanted to kill himself, according to Bakersfield Police Department's offense reports filed in Kern County Superior Court.

Marque Qualls, 26, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon in a February collision at the intersection of Old River Road and White Lane that left educator Larry Hallum, 79, dead. Documents released Tuesday by Kern County Superior Court detail the police investigation into the incident that killed Hallum.

Hallum taught at Arvin High School for more than 40 years, drawing attention to the rural school for its award-winning civics competition "We the People." Hallum had the unique ability to make friends with everyone he met and he left behind thousands mourning his death.

Police interviewed Qualls while he was treated at Kern Medical for injuries he suffered from the collision. There, Qualls didn't tell police where he left from, but said he wanted to go home, according to the court reports.

Qualls was going west on White Lane, approaching the intersection while Hallum was heading north on Old River Road. That's when Qualls said he saw the traffic light turn yellow, police wrote in the reports.

The traffic light turned red as Qualls approached the intersection going about 50 mph, the reports stated. Qualls told the police officer he didn't stop his car, nor did he try to stop or to veer away from the intersection, the reports added.

"Qualls told me he had the 'pedal to the metal' as he entered the intersection with Old River Road because he wanted to die," the reports said.

Police wrote in the reports that Qualls said "(expletive) this life" while talking to the officer.

The reports say Qualls has a prior DUI conviction and was on probation for this offense. Court records don't show any previous charges related to driving intoxicated for Qualls.

The blood alcohol level in Qualls blood was 0.184% which is twice the legal limit, the reports added. It also indicated his blood tested positive for THC, though it was unclear at what concentration.

Assistant District Attorney Joseph Kinzel previously told The Californian the assault with a deadly weapon charge in this case pertained to prosecutors believing this incident was intentional.

Hallum died in April, about two months after the collision. Kinzel had said prosecutors only filed the murder charge after it was certain Hallum died from injuries caused by this incident.

A pre-preliminary hearing in this case is scheduled for June 1.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.