A 41-year-old Omao man has pleaded not guilty to a murder indictment by a Kauai grand jury in connection with the death of an 88-year-old man on New Year’s Day.

Giovanni Corpuz entered his plea at his arraignment Tuesday before Kauai Circuit Judge Randal Valenciano. His Jan. 16 arraign­ment had been continued to Tuesday so the court could obtain an Ilocano interpreter for Corpuz.

The grand jury recently indicted Corpuz on charges of second-degree murder and carrying or use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony in connection with the death of Amby Cruz. Corpuz’s trial is set for April 21.

Corpuz is being held without bail at the Kauai Community Correctional Center.

During the early morning hours of New Year’s Day, firefighters responded to a medical call pertaining to an unresponsive male and found Cruz at his Omao home. He was taken to Wilcox Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Autopsy results determined Cruz died from a single gunshot wound to the head. It’s unknown who made the 911 call.

Cruz, who arrived on Kauai from the Philippines in the mid-1940s to work in the sugar fields, was a retired mechanic. He worked at Lihue Plantation for more than 45 years.

The FBI’s Honolulu office, with the help of the Taipei government, detained Corpuz on Jan. 9 when he arrived in Taiwan while en route to the Philippines. He was extradited to Hawaii on Jan. 15, according to Assistant Chief Roy Asher of the Kauai Police Department.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum term of life in prison with the possibility of parole. The use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Kauai Prosecutor Justin Kollar said Corpuz could face an enhanced penalty of life without the possibility of parole because of the victim’s age. According to state law, a defendant may be subject to an extended term of imprisonment if convicted of murder of a person age 60 or older.