The parents of Joel Botelho said they will try to move on with their lives under a "new normal" after their son’s former Castle High School football teammate was convicted Wednesday of murdering him last January.

The jury deliberated for four days before announcing that it had found Makuola Collins guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder and related firearms charges.

Collins, 27, faces a minimum sentence of life in prison with the chance of parole, but the court has the option of sentencing him to life without parole. The jury will return Jan. 5 for a hearing to decide on a nonbinding recommendation on that issue to Circuit Judge Karen Ahn. Sentencing is scheduled for March 5.

Deputy Prosecutor Wayne Tashima said Collins went to the Botelho family home in Kaneohe during the early morning of Jan. 2, where he shot and killed Joel Botelho, 27, and shot at Leon "Bubba" Botelho, 22, Joel’s brother.

The prosecution argued that Collins had gone to the house to settle a score with Leon Botelho after the younger brother had "false-cracked" Collins at Club Komo Mai, a bar in Kaneohe, a few hours before the shooting.

David Hayakawa, Collins’ attorney, argued that there were enough gaps in the evidence to leave reasonable doubt for the jury. The handgun that killed Joel Botelho was never recovered. Hayakawa suggested that Leon Botelho, who admitted to shooting a rifle into the ground during the confrontation, had shot his brother with a handgun, then hid that weapon.

Nonohe Botelho, the Botelhos’ mother, sobbed and clung to her husband, Chris, as the verdict was read. Family and supporters of Collins, who had sat across a short aisle from the Botelho family throughout the trial that began Dec. 13, showed no emotion to the verdict.

Outside the courtroom, Nonohe Botelho said the verdict vindicates the actions taken by both of her sons the morning Joel was killed.

"They were protecting us that night," she said. She thanked the jury, prosecutors and witnesses "who were brave enough to come forward to testify in this case."

Chris Botelho expressed relief. "Now the healing can begin, for all of us — the family, the community and my son," he said. "We wanted to go forward into this new year, and the coming anniversary of his death on Jan. 2 … and being able to move forward and finding what our new normal is. And I believe that is what our challenge is going to be."

Both parents smiled as they discussed an upcoming seven-on-seven football tournament taking place at Benjamin Parker Elementary School in Kaneohe on New Year’s Day, organized by Joel’s friends and teammates.

"That’s going to be their annual thing for Joel," Nonohe Botelho said.

She said Joel, a star quarterback for the Castle Knights, would have appreciated football on his birthday. She, herself, has agreed to take several snaps at quarterback.

Joel Botelho had been living on Hawaii island with his young family but had returned last New Year’s to celebrate his Jan. 1 birthday. His fiancee and two young boys are now living on Oahu.

"We’ve all grown much closer to each other because of this," Nonohe Botelho said.

Hayakawa said Collins and his family were disappointed with the verdict.

Asked what the biggest challenge was for the defense, Hayakawa said, "A fine young man is dead … and my client did go over to his residence."

As for his client’s future, Hayakawa said he will fight next week to give Collins the possibility of parole.

"It’s a life sentence, it’s either life with or without parole," he said. "That’s 50-plus years. For a young man, that’s a devastating thing to face."

Tashima said he is seeking a life sentence without parole because Collins has been found guilty of multiple felonies.

During closing arguments, Tashima showed the jury a photo of Joel Botelho’s bloodied knees in an attempt to show he had been forced to kneel before he was shot. Tashima then showed jurors a photo showing where a bullet entered above Botelho’s chest.

Tashima said Joel Botelho was an innocent peacemaker who tried to step between his brother and Collins.

Tashima said Collins arrived at the Botelhos’ property on Waikalua Road and was met outside by Joel Botelho, who tried to calm him. When Leon Botelho fired a warning shot into the ground, Collins forced Joel Botelho to kneel and then shot him, Tashima said. Collins then shot at Leon Botelho, missing, before fleeing the scene, he said.

Hayakawa said the evidence was inconclusive, pointing out that Leon Botelho was the only person who identified Collins as the man who shot his brother.

Collins took the stand and denied shooting at the Botelhos, or even having a gun.

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Star-Advertiser reporter Rosemarie Bernardo contributed to this story.