Oceanside Teen to Stand Trial in Wounding of 4-Year-Old

An 18-year-old Oceanside resident was ordered Wednesday to stand trial in Superior Court on charges related to a drive-by shooting that wounded a 4-year-old girl on Christmas Eve.

During two days of testimony at a preliminary hearing, a witness said Floyd Avery was among a small group of San Juan Capistrano teen-agers who passed around a sawed-off shotgun before embarking on a hunt for rival gang members in San Clemente. Avery allegedly drove the car at the time of the shooting.

Avery is charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Three other people have already been convicted in the shooting, which sent 4-year-old Prisca Caudillo to the hospital for four days with shotgun wounds in her face and upper chest.

Authorities say all three are members of a San Juan Capistrano gang known as the SJC Boys.

Fifteen-year-old Rafael Gutierrez, an admitted San Juan Capistrano gang member, testified that Avery was with members of the SJC Boys when the shotgun was passed around after a party.

After the shotgun was shown off, Avery jumped into his blue 1973 Datsun with two other teen-agers and drove to San Clemente, Gutierrez said.

Police say that a short time later, the teen-agers made three attempts to shoot rival gang members, with the girl wounded in the second attempt.

Prisca and her father, Rodrigo Caudillo, 25, appeared during the first day of the preliminary hearing. The child fell asleep in a chair at the district attorney’s table during her father’s testimony.