Kaneohe shooting suspect ordered to appear at preliminary hearing
Makuola Collins appears in District Court in Honolulu this morning for his initial appearance on murder, attempted murder and firearms charges. Collins, 26, is accused of shooting and killing 27-year-old Joel Botelho, a neighbor and former teammate on the Castle High School football team, and shooting at Botelho's brother Leon after a fight at Club Komo Mai early Sunday morning.
Makuola Collins appears in District Court in Honolulu for his initial appearance on murder, attempted murder and firearms charges. Collins, 26, is accused of shooting and killing 27-year-old Joel Botelho, a neighbor and former teammate on the Castle High School football team, and shooting at Botelho's brother Leon after a fight at Club Komo Mai early Sunday morning.
The 26-year-old Kaneohe man charged with the shooting death of former Castle High School quarterback Joel Botelho Sunday is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in District Court at 10 a.m. Jan. 10.
Six deputy sheriffs were stationed in the courtroom this morning when Makuola K. Collins made his first court appearance before District Judge Paula Devens.
Collins is charged with second-degree murder, first and second-degree attempted murder, use of a firearm during a crime and improper storing of a gun. He also faces charges of third-degree promotion of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Collins, a former teammate of Botelho on the Castle High School football team, was dressed in a black T-shirt when he appeared with court-appointed Public Defender William Bagasol. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Kawamoto requested that Collins’ bail be continued at $750,000.
More than a dozen people, several of whom described by court officials as members of Collins’ family, sat through the brief hearing.
Neither Collins or any family members made a statement during or after the hearing.
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Three deputy sheriffs stood guard near Collins and his attorney while one was stationed at the swinging gate that separated the district court room from the row of spectators.
Police said Botelho, 27, and his younger brother, Leon "Bubba" Botelho, were drinking at Club Komo Mai in the Kaneohe Shopping Center Sunday when the younger Botelho got into a fight with Collins.
Later, when the Botelhos got to their parents’ home on Waikalua Road, Bubba Botelho told detectives, he saw Collins and several men and women standing outside Collins’ home.
One man swung at Bubba Botelho and missed. Bubba Botelho said then he heard the gunshots and saw a flash from a gun that Collins was holding. Bubba Botelho said he saw his brother lying on the ground, bleeding. Joel Botelho was pronounced dead at Castle Medical Center at 4:43 a.m.
In 2008, Club Komo Mai was the scene of a fatal stabbing after a fight in the parking lot of the bar. Glenn Keohokapu, then 35, stabbed and killed 19-year-old Steve Wilcox as Wilcox tried to break up a fight between Keohokapu and Keohokapu’s wife. Keohokapu was found guilty of manslaughter last year. The bar was also fined for serving liquor to a minor because Wilcox had been drinking in the bar before the fight.
