A woman who was shot to death in Wahiawa in January had twice rammed the Jeep she was driving into the suspect’s car parked under a tree on a remote access road, new court documents say.
Bernard Gene Kawehi DeCoito Jr., 37, remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center on charges of manslaughter and three firearm offenses in the death of Malia Soma-Valmoja, 30.
His bail is set at $1 million.
Court documents say a friend of Soma-Valmoja told police that DeCoito and Soma-Valmoja had dated for seven months, but the relationship had not been exclusive.
The deadly shooting occurred on the morning of Jan. 11 on a remote access road off of Kamehameha Highway and between Kamanui Road and Whitmore Avenue. The friend said he received a video chat call from Soma-Valmoja via Facebook Messenger at about 8 a.m. when she told him she was driving to an area to look for “Kawehi.”
During the conversation, police said, the friend said Soma-Valmoja seemed upset and repeatedly told him that she was going to “bang” DeCoito’s car. It was not immediately clear why she was upset at DeCoito.
At some point Soma-Valmoja placed her phone on the dashboard where her friend could see the front windshield of the Jeep she was driving.
The friend then observed her drive up a dirt road toward a white Honda sedan parked under a tree and allegedly ram the car twice.
Upon the second impact, the phone fell flat onto the dashboard when the friend heard Soma-Valmoja yelling and then heard a noise that sounded like a gunshot, police added.
The friend repeatedly called out to her, but there was no response.
Police said the friend called 911 after he arrived in the remote area and found Soma-Valmoja unresponsive in the driver’s seat of the Jeep with a gunshot wound to her head. She was taken in critical condition to The Queen’s Medical Center, where she later died.
Officers recovered the Jeep as well as the Honda, which was unoccupied with front-end damage. Police later discovered both vehicles were stolen.
DeCoito has three felony convictions for an accident involving death or serious bodily injury, assault and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.
Soma-Valmoja had a criminal record of three felony convictions for auto theft, identify theft and fraudulent use of a credit card and two felony convictions for unauthorized possession of confidential personal information.
During the investigation, police located a witness who told detectives he heard a commotion on the morning of Jan. 11 and observed a male walk toward the Jeep with his arms extended toward the vehicle as if he was holding a gun, court documents said.
Police said the witness then heard a single gunshot.
Police on Wednesday arrested DeCoito at OCCC on suspicion of murder in Soma-Valmoja’s death. He was already in custody at the correctional facility for an unrelated burglary warrant.
