Local News in Brief : 3 Ordered to Stand Trial in Sylmar Birthday Party Slaying

Three men were ordered Monday to stand trial in the killing of a 23-year-old Sylmar man, who a prosecutor said was shot outside a “sweet 16” birthday party.

After an eight-day preliminary hearing, San Fernando Municipal Court Judge Michael S. Luros ruled that there is sufficient evidence to hold John Henry Tanner, 23; Jeffrey Evans, 24, both of Lake View Terrace, and Dennis Elliot, 24, of Pacoima.

The three men, charged in the early-morning shooting death of John Shaw on May 15, are members of the Crips gang, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward Nison.

Elliot and Evans were also ordered to stand trial for the attempted murder of Cedric Finley, 20, of Pacoima. The two are accused of shooting at Finley about half an hour before the Shaw shooting.

Finley was shot at four times, but not hit, in Lake View Terrace near the intersection of Glamis Street and Kismet Avenue before midnight May 14, Nison said. Elliot and Evans drove by Finley twice, the second time shouting a gang challenge and firing a gun, Nison said. Finley dived for cover behind a parked car and the men drove away, Nison said. Finley was not injured.

About midnight, Elliot, Evans and Tanner drove to a house in the 14900 block of Aztec Street where the birthday party was going on, Nison said. Shaw, a chaperon, was standing outside the house when the three shouted a gang challenge, Nison said.

Shaw replied that he was not a gang member and made a remark interpreted as a slight, Nison said. He was shot five times in the back and chest and pronounced dead at the scene, Nison said.

The three men are scheduled to be arraigned in San Fernando Superior Court on Oct. 3.