BRIEFLY : TEEN WILL BE TRIED AS ADULT IN SLAYING.

BAKERSFIELD - A 15-year-old Rosamond boy accused of being the gunman in the drive-by shooting death of a 17-year-old Rosamond boy was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder charges.

Abel ``Rocko'' Martinez, who was found unfit to be tried as a juvenile, is charged in the June 16 slaying of Luis Sanchez-Ramirez.

Sanchez-Ramirez was shot as he walked up to a car occupied by four people believed to belong to a rival gang, sheriff's deputies said.

Three defendants already have entered pleas in the case. One of them, a 16-year-old Rosamond girl who was the driver of the car, was sentenced Wednesday to the California Youth Authority for conspiracy to commit murder.

A fifth defendant, 22-year-old Rene Perez, has been ordered to stand trial in the case. Perez is accused of providing the gun.

- Daily News

Man charged with hitting dog with bat

LANCASTER - A Palmdale man has been charged with one count of animal cruelty for beating his parents' dog with a baseball bat.

Russell Rehder, 36, is accused of beating the 20-pound mixed-breed dog, Sandy, in the bathroom of his parents' residence in a trailer park in the 3200 block of East Avenue R on July 22. He used the bat like a ``butter churner'' to hit the dog as it hid behind the toilet, prosecutors said.

Rehder and the dog did not get along, and he claimed it barked too much, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison. The dog was not seriously injured.

- Daily News