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Justice Kaio, 19, charged with murder in Waikiki shooting appears in court

ROSEMARIE BERNARDO / RBERNARDO@STARADVERTISER.COM
                                Justice M. Kaio at his initial appearance at Honolulu District Court today.

ROSEMARIE BERNARDO / RBERNARDO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Justice M. Kaio at his initial appearance at Honolulu District Court today.

A 19-year-old man charged in Saturday’s shooting death of a 20-year-old man in Waikiki made his initial appearance at Honolulu District Court this morning.

Justice Manumalo Kaio appeared before Judge Kenneth Shimozono via video conference from the courthouse cellblock on a second-degree murder charge in the death of the victim, identified in court documents as Marqus I. McNeil.

Kaio is also charged with carrying a firearm in the commission of a separate felony and place to keep pistol or revolver. His aggregate bail is set at $1 million.

Shimozono scheduled Kaio’s preliminary hearing for April 1.

Police said Kaio was arguing with McNeil on a sidewalk near Kalakaua Avenue and Lewers Street Saturday night when Kaio brandished a gun and shot the victim.

A witness told detectives that Kaio shot McNeil twice and fled on foot on Lewers Street, police said in court documents filed at Honolulu District Court today.

Another witness saw Kaio throw something over a wooden construction barrier wall on Lewers Street as Kaio fled the scene. Police checked the area and recovered a handgun.

McNeil was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police noted the two men knew each other and that the shooting was not a random act.

On Sunday afternoon, Kaio turned himself in at the Honolulu Police Department’s main headquarters on South Beretania Street where he was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder.

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