Man accused of shooting nephew will appear in court

A 42-year-old Kona man accused of fatally shooting his 25-year-old nephew is scheduled to appear today in a Hilo courtroom for a preliminary hearing.

Valentine Gonsalves Jr. made his initial appearance Thursday afternoon in Hilo District Court on charges of second-degree murder, carrying a firearm in commission of a separate felony and possession of a loaded firearm.

The body of Keith Gonsalves of Hilo was found shortly after 5 a.m. Tuesday when police received information that led them to a silver Honda sport utility vehicle parked against the flow of traffic on Daniel K. Inouye Highway near the 27-mile marker. Police found Gonsalves’ body in the SUV.

Police said Wednesday the body may have been connected to a shooting in Waiakea Uka on Monday night. An autopsy determined that the man died of a gunshot wound to the neck, police said.

Officers arrested Valentine Gonsalves Jr. on Wednesday in Hilo.

According to a police arrest report filed in District Court, bodybuilder Naea Lindsey told police that his daughter Keolani Familar and two men arrived at his home at 206 Alaloa Road in the upper Waiakea Uka area of Hilo at 11:45 p.m. Monday in a silver Honda Pilot.

Lindsey said he and the driver, Keith Gonsalves, got into an argument. Then, when the vehicle started moving, “a male party within the back of the vehicle fired one shot from a(n) unknown gun through the front driver side window,” Lindsey told police.

Familar told police she heard a gunshot from the back seat of the vehicle and that the only person in the back seat was Keith Gonsalves’ uncle, Valentine Gonsalves Jr.

She said she saw Keith Gonsalves “go limp and unresponsive,” the police report said.

An earlier Hawaii County police news release said a Hilo man reported he had been threatened during a verbal confrontation by a man in a car outside his house. Witnesses reported that a shot was fired and that the vehicle then left the area.

In a news release, police asked motorists who may have seen the SUV parked along Daniel K. Inouye Highway, may have seen a man hitchhiking toward the Kona direction or may have picked up a hitchhiker and taken him to Kona to contact detectives.

Valentine Gonsalves remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $505,000 bail.

Police said in their report that Gonsalves has no felony convictions.