A 16-year-old boy charged as an adult entered a not guilty plea Wednesday in connection with an alleged dispute that ended with the fatal May 21 shooting of a 17-year-old in Makaha, according to state court records.
Branston Scott Anthony K. Medeiros entered his plea Wednesday before District Court Judge Melanie May. Medeiros is charged with murder in the second degree and two firearm offenses.
He is being held in lieu of $750,000 bail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. Friday.
On May 21 at about 12:33 a.m., 911 callers reported a shooting at Makaha Beach Park, with one caller saying a “male was on the ground dead with a gun in his hand,” according to a probable cause affidavit.
Witnesses told police they were drinking at about midnight in the park when a white Ford Focus drove up alongside their location with four people inside, two male and two female.
Medeiros allegedly got out of the car and walked up to the 17-year-old victim, extended his hand and asked “if everything was good between them,” according to the affidavit.
There had been a conflict between the victim and Medeiros, a witness told police, but the victim never told the witness what it was.
A short time later, witnesses told police that Medeiros walked up to the victim and pointed a black handgun at his head. A partygoer tried to calm things down but Medeiros allegedly opened fire and the gathering scattered.
After the initial wave of gunfire, a witness told police Medeiros went back to his car and then shooting erupted from the Ford Focus toward the victim’s party.
After Medeiros and his crew left, the 17-year-old was found “bleeding with multiple gunshots to his body” and had a gun in his hand.
At 5:05 p.m. May 21, Kuakini Medical Center staff told police they were treating a minor with a gunshot wound. Police arrested Medeiros in the emergency room.
On Tuesday, a waiver hearing was held where the offenses for the 16-year-old boy were transferred from Family Court to the First Circuit Court, according to police.
He was arrested at the Kapolei Juvenile Detention Facility.
“The 16-year-old male was arrested by the District 8 CRU (Crime Reduction Unit), booked and processed as an adult and charged with murder second, place to keep and use of a firearm in commission of a separate felony,” according to police.
Medeiros was previously arrested and charged as a minor.
On May 25 prosecutors charged Waylen K. Armstrong-Kea with second-degree murder, kidnapping, fourth-degree arson and two firearm offenses.
Kea is being held in lieu of $2 million bail. He allegedly burned the Ford Focus near the end of Waianae Valley Road several hours after the shooting.
