HILO — The family of a 40-year-old Hilo man who died May 15 after sustaining a gunshot wound to the head three days earlier at a Waiakea Houselots home is seeking answers about how and why their loved one died.
Family members of Sheldon Navor held signs and a large banner with Navor’s image, with the caption “Justice for Sheldon,” as they waved to passersby Saturday along Kanoelehua Avenue by Waiakea Center. They included Navor’s parents, Vicente and Margaret Navor; sisters, Jade Navor, Zenia Aguiar and Pam Navor-Hughes; and brothers, Vicente Navor Jr. and Gene Navor, the latter who designed T-shirts that read, “Rest in Love Sheldon, March 22, 1977-May 15, 2017.”
“People were tooting their horns. There was a lot of good response,” Aguiar said Monday.
Officers responded to a home at 555 Hinano St. at about 1:55 a.m. on May 12 after a report of a man with a gunshot wound. Navor was found unresponsive outside the home, and a handgun was recovered at the scene, police said.
Police still classify Navor’s death as a coroner’s inquest, which means the death hasn’t been ruled a homicide, and neither suicide nor accidental death have been ruled out.
“It’s ridiculous, because he died May 15. It’s already September, and we know nothing, and there’s nothing being done. I guess they’re waiting for (forensic test) results or people to come forward. That’s why we’re doing this. It’s just sad because we don’t know what happened to my brother at all,” Aguiar said.
Aguiar said she was told by a detective police are still “trying to find out what happened, and they don’t have the answer that we need right now.”
“That’s pretty much where we’re at,” she said. “It’s hard to comprehend. I just keep asking why. It’s just sad, that’s all.”
Aguiar described her brother, who was a union construction laborer and a father of six, as “really funny.”
“He always made me laugh,” she said. “He was a hard worker. He would help anybody in need. If somebody needed something, if he could, he would give it. My brother loved the ocean, He loved to dive and spear for fish, and he was really good at it. He also loved music, all kinds of music. Everybody who knew him, knew he loved music. He would always be playing music and singing along.”
Aguiar said her parents are taking her brother’s death “really hard, especially my mom.”
“My dad, he’s really strong in his faith in God, so he just looks for comfort in God,” she said. “But my mom, it’s her baby boy, and she’s just distraught about the whole thing and not knowing what happened to him. It’s really heartbreaking for her.”
Aguiar said she plans to continue sign-waving “every first Saturday of the month, weather permitting.”
“We’re just asking people to help, anybody who knows what happened to him,” she said. “It’s hard to sleep. It’s hard to think about your loved one every day, not knowing how he died. … There are people who know the answers and they don’t want to give it to us. This is Hawaii. We’re supposed to be united. You would think somebody would have come out already and told the truth.
“I’m trying to use every resource I have and hope to spark some answers. It’s been so long, and we haven’t got the answers, either from the authorities or the people living at the house. I’m just trying to use whatever resources I have. It’s not like I have a lot of resources, but I’m trying to get help, any way I can.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Tuckloy Aurello at 961-2385 or Detective B.J. Sagon at 961-2375. Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.