LAGUNA NIGUEL : Oceanside Man to Be Tried in Shooting

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

During two days of testimony at a preliminary hearing here in South Orange Municipal Court, 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, who was allegedly driving at the time of the shooting, is charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Three other members of a San Juan Capistrano gang known as the SJC Boys have already been convicted in the shooting, said police, who called it the first drive-by shooting in South County.

The assault sent Prisca Caudillo, 4, to the hospital for four days with shotgun wounds in her face and upper chest.

Rafael Gutierrez, 15, an admitted San Juan Capistrano gang member, testified that Avery was with other 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 the others and drove to San Clemente, Gutierrez said.

Police said 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.