Family and friends of shooting victim Kamuela Kaleikilo filled a courtroom with sorrow and rage yesterday when alleged killer Chadwick Tadly appeared for a hearing in the case.

Noe Aguilar, an aunt of Kaleikilo, had to be forcibly removed from the court as she struggled to get at Tadly, 37.

"Let me get him," she yelled as she was pushed out the door.

"I wanted to strangle him," Aguilar said later.

Tadly, dressed in a white prison jump suit and shackled at the hands and feet, sat with his head down on the defendant's table throughout the hearing.

Police Detective Deena Thoem-mes testified that Tadly told her he shot Kaleikilo, 22, on New Year's morning as the two men fought in Tadly's apartment on Leolua Street in Waipahu.

Tadly said he had knocked the victim to the ground and was holding a gun while Kaleikilo struggled beneath him.

"He said that there was a struggle and that he (Kaleikilo) hit his hand" and the gun fired, Thomas said.

"He was unsure, but it was like an accident," Thoemmes said Tadly told her.

Deputy Medical Examiner Dr. Gayle Suzuki said the victim died from a "contact" bullet wound to the head, in which the gun was pressed against the victim's head.

Suzuki said tests showed Kaleikilo had used alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine before he died.

After District Judge Rhonda Nishimura ruled that there was probable cause to hold Tadly for trial, supporters of the victim shouted curses and warnings at Tadly as he was taken by deputy sheriffs from the courtroom.

Lorreanne Kaleikilo, another aunt of the victim, said outside court, "This boy was loved."

She said the number of his friends "could fill up the whole Aloha Stadium."

Tadly is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

He is to be arraigned on the second-degree murder charge on Jan. 19.