Filo Tu was in disbelief Saturday after police arrested his nephew in connection with the fatal stabbing of a family member in Pacific Palisades.

"My family is having a very hard time coping with this because both of the guys are so nice people," Tu said by phone. "We cannot believe it."

Police said officers were dispatched at 4:56 a.m. Saturday to a stabbing and found a 36-year-old man unresponsive with stab wounds. The victim was taken to the hospital, where he died.

The 19-year-old suspect was arrested at his Auma-kua Street home at 6:25 a.m. on suspicion of second-degree murder, police records show.

Tu said the victim, Frank Kapesi, his adopted brother, had problems with alcohol. He said something was bound to happen because Kapesi often picked on his nephew, who was arrested. 

The nephew is not being named because he had not been charged as of Saturday afternoon.

"We love (Kapesi) very much," Tu said. "It’s just one of those unfortunate things that happen."

While Tu considered Kapesi his adopted brother, he was actually Tu’s brother’s son. Tu’s father adopted Kapesi and brought him to Hawaii from American Samoa.

"He’s one of those people that when they’re sober, one of the nicest person you will ever want to meet," Tu said. "The only problem, when he drank, he becomes a different person."

Tu, who lives in Honolulu but owns the home where the stabbing occurred, said Kapesi lived there with two brothers and his nephew.

Tu wasn’t present at the time of the stabbing and didn’t know what Kapesi and his nephew — his sister’s son — were arguing about.

Tu, a business owner, described his nephew as a quiet man who would help with chores when he visited Tu in Honolulu and would help Tu’s wife with her wheelchair when she had doctor’s appointments.

"It’s such a loss to our family," Tu said.