A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday in the 2021 shooting death of a former teenage gang member who as an adult worked at a nonprofit aimed at turning around high-risk youth.

Filimone Tavake was ­indicted on four charges just days before the third anniversary of Malakai “Mo” Maumalanga’s shooting death. Maumalanga, 45, was found lifeless in the carport of his multigenerational Aiea home with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body on March 27, 2021.

The case quickly drew public attention because of the violence surrounding Maumalanga’s death and because he was the face of Adult Friends for Youth, a nonprofit dedicating to redirecting the lives of high-risk youth.

The federal grand jury charged Tavake with:

>> Carry, use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, aiding and abetting.

>> Causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm, aiding and abetting.

>> Killing while engaged in offenses punishable under Title 21, U.S. Code 841 (b) (1) (A), aiding and abetting.

>> Conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

According to count one, “Filimone Tavake, the defendant, aided and abetted by others known and unknown to the grand jury, did knowingly carry and use a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime.”

According to count two, “Filimone Tavake, the defendant, aided and abetted by others known and unknown to the grand jury … caused the death of another person, Malakai Maumalanga, through the use of a firearm, which killing constituted murder.”

According to count three, “Filimone Tavake, the defendant, aided and abetted by others known and unknown to the grand jury, while engaged in an offense … that is conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine … did knowingly and intentionally kill and cause the intentional killing of another person, Malakai Maumalanga.”

According to count four, Tavake is accused of conspiring, with persons known and unknown to the grand jury, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute “50 grams or more of methamphetamine, its salts, isomers, and salts of its isomers,” between November 2020 and March 27, 2021.

The indictment also included a notice of forfeiture, which said if Tavake is convicted that the United States is entitled to the firearms and ammunition involved in the crime. Additionally, if convicted of offenses related to Title 21, Tavake is to forfeit “any and all property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as the result of such offense and any and all property used or intended to be used in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, such offense.”

U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader unsealed the federal indictment Friday.

The United States’ ex-parte motion said Tavake, the sole defendant in the case, “was arrested on or about March 22,” and “in order for the defendant to be appropriately charged pursuant to the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, it would greatly assist the process if the indictment were unsealed.”

For years, Maumalanga’s death has baffled the community. His violent death seemed out of place in a quiet Aiea neighborhood, where street signs remind drivers to slow down because it’s a place where children play. Given Mau­malanga’s past, the timing of the crime also seemed ill-fated.

A reason that Maumalanga connected so well to his students is that he had worked through at least some of his own demons. Maumalanga was a teenage member of the Cross Sun gang, which normalized harassing others, street fighting, drive-by shootings and organized crimes.

Deborah Spencer-Chun, AFY’s president and CEO, counseled Maumalanga when he was a teenager, standing by him after he was arrested at 18 in connection with a gang- related drive-by shooting. Maumalanga wasn’t convicted of the shooting, but went to prison on a weapon charge.

When he got out, Spencer-­Chun invited Maumalanaga to live with her family. She also encouraged him to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and to work for AFY, where he met co-worker Lisa Tamashiro Maumalanga, who later became his wife. The couple had two children together and were also raising Lisa Maumalanga’s son and two foster children.

At the time of his death, Maumalanaga was serving as AFY’s director of redirectional services, a leadership role where he counseled countless kids. His success made him known to law enforcement circles and in the Pacific Islander community, where his Tongan roots were a source of pride.

“He was like a son to me, and he meant so much to so many of our kids,” Spencer-­Chun said during an earlier interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.