OXNARD : Husband Faces Trial in Wife’s Shooting

A 47-year-old Oxnard man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on a charge of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of his wife.

Juan Barrios Amaro faces a May 4 Superior Court arraignment on charges that he shot his wife, Beatriz Amaro, in the shoulder and neck with a rifle March 8, Deputy Dist. Atty. Patrice D. Koenig said.

He will also face special allegations that he used a firearm in the commission of a crime and that the victim suffered great bodily injury, Koenig said.

Two family members said at a preliminary hearing Tuesday that Amaro came home after an evening of drinking and shot his wife twice, Koenig said.

The couple had been involved in an argument at a neighborhood church the afternoon of March 7 and Oxnard police were summoned to investigate, she said.

Later, the victim “had an inkling something was going to happen, so she had moved the guns, but he found the guns and used the rifle to shoot her,” Koenig said.

Beatriz Amaro survived the attack, but suffered permanent damage to her shoulder, Koenig said.

Municipal Judge Bruce A. Clark ruled that there was enough evidence to order Amaro to stand trial.

Deputy Public Defender John H. Voigtsberger said the district attorney’s office had overcharged the case.

“We have offered to plead guilty to attempted second-degree murder and admit the special allegations,” he said Tuesday. But now “we’ll just play it out and see how things shake out.”

Voigtsberger said his client would face up to 14 years in prison if convicted of attempted second-degree murder. Koenig said Amaro faces up to life in prison if found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.

Amaro remains in custody in Ventura County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, Koenig said.