Vista

A man charged with murder in the death of his brother has been ordered to stand trial after a preliminary hearing at which another brother was the key witness.

Joel Ayala, 25, who remains in custody on $500,000 bail, was ordered Friday by Municipal Judge Frederic Link to appear in Superior Court on Oct. 7 for arraignment in connection with the Aug. 5 shooting death of Rene Ayala, 27.

Although the motive for the killing remains unclear, Deputy Dist. Atty. Luis Aragon said outside the courtroom that eyewitnesses to the shooting would testify.

An autopsy report lists the victim’s cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds, of which three were inflicted in the back.

The defendant, who fled the scene at a construction site after the shooting, surrendered to authorities the next day at the U. S.-Mexico border after relatives persuaded him to return from Tijuana and give himself up.