Judge says no attempted murder charge for man accused of shooting Kings County boy

HANFORD, Calif. (KFSN) -- Some of the most striking testimony during Rowdy Paulo's preliminary hearing on Monday came from a former Kings County Sheriff's deputy, who said that while he was on the scene of the shooting that injured five-year-old Brandon Estrada, a man on an ATV rode by and yelled out "Good job guys."

The deputy testified the same man circled back a little bit later and said that the people who live inside the home are trouble.

The man on the ATV, according to the deputy, was Rowdy Paulo, who's accused of firing the shot that pierced the east wall of the house and hit Brandon in the head as he watched cartoons with his brother at a home south of Hanford.

RELATED: Man arrested for attempted homicide after allegedly shooting 5-year-old in Kings County

The Kings County Sheriff's Office has said that Brandon's family had some previous conflicts with Paulo.

Brandon survived. His brother says he's doing OK-but recently had some seizures related to the shooting.

"All of us are traumatized by all this that happened. I mean it could have gone a lot worse," said Brandon's brother, David Estrada. "We're happy he's alive, but that ruined his whole life already. That ruined his whole life. It's not going to be the same no more."

Authorities did find an air rifle inside Brandon's home, but on Monday, Kings County detectives testified that it couldn't have created the hole in the house, nor did it match with Brandon's injury.

A Department of Justice criminalist went on to testify that the bullet found at the scene was the same caliber as those found at Paulo's home. Though the crime lab couldn't prove one way or another if the bullet was fired from Paulo's rifle.

A judge eventually held Paulo to answer on all but one of the charges-attempted murder. Something David Estrada disagrees with.

"It's not right because what about if my little brother would have died. Then what? Did they want him to be dead for him to be convicted of attempted murder or what?" Estrada asked.

Paulo continues to be held without bail. He'll be back in court on October 8th.