HILO, Hawai'i — A Big Island judge has cleared the way for an 18-year-old man to be tried as an adult in the shotgun slaying of a man last year in the Puna subdivision of Nanawale Estates.

Malaki Lee McBride was 17 when police charged him in Family Court with second-degree murder in the slaying of 21-year-old Tyrone Torres. McBride also was charged with using a firearm in the commission of a felony, second-degree arson and unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle.

According to court records, McBride allegedly retrieved a sawed-off shotgun and a rifle that another man had been holding for him, and took his sister's car without permission to go looking for his former girlfriend on Feb. 25, 2007.

McBride allegedly found the ex-girlfriend in a car on Hanalei Circle in Nanawale. Torres was sitting in the front passenger seat. McBride allegedly opened the car door and fired a single shotgun blast that struck Torres in the head, according to Family Court records.

Torres' burned body was found the following day in a vehicle that had been set on fire near the shoreline in the Wa'awa'a area of Lower Puna.

McBride's lawyer, G. Kay Iopa, argued in court documents against trying McBride as an adult, citing his "long history of mental illness," including a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder before and after the shooting.

Family Court Judge Ben Gaddis noted that McBride had been committed to secure custody six times as a juvenile, including two stints at the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility on O'ahu.

McBride has "shown unusual resistance to treatments" and is now too old to be treated in any facility for children, he said.

Gaddis ruled on Feb. 14 that McBride should be tried as an adult for the safety of the community. If McBride were convicted as a juvenile in Family Court, he would have to be released from the Hawai'i Youth Correctional Facility at age 19.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.