A man accused of shooting and killing his estranged friend during a small-time drug deal in Oak Harbor last October will remain in jail in lieu of a $1-million bail bond.

The trial was also continued to next year while the prosecutor will likely amend the charge to first-degree murder.

Christopher Malaga’s attorney, Jennifer Bouwens, argued in court Wednesday that the detective investigating the case was less than candid in sharing details that point to another suspect.

Bouwens argued that a full accounting of the facts “would have alerted the court that there’s another suspect and someone else who should be investigated in the case.”

She said it was “troubling” that the probable-cause statement by Detective Jim Hoagland wasn’t complete.

Bouwens suggested that the judge would have set Malaga’s bail lower than $1 million if she was aware of the information. She asked the court to release Malaga on his personal recognizance — without bail — or to lower his bail.

In addition, she complained that the discovery information — investigative reports — from the detective weren’t provided in a timely manner.

Island County Prosecutor Greg Banks successfully argued that nothing had changed to allow for a change in bail. He said an eyewitness who knows Malaga identified him as the shooter. The probable-cause statement from the detective was a short summary of the pertinent facts and, by nature, doesn’t include all the evidence, he said,

Malaga is accused of killing Oak Harbor resident Adam Garcia, 21, on Oct. 18, 2014.

Garcia, Malaga and two others met at the corner of Southwest Castillian and Fairhaven drives in Oak Harbor at around 3 a.m. for an alleged drug deal. After the exchange, Malaga confronted Garcia, pointed a gun at him and shot him in the face after words were exchanged, according to the police report.

The hearing Wednesday revealed new details about the case.

Malaga moved from New Jersey to the Whidbey area six to eight months before the murder, his attorney said.

Banks said Malaga was wasn’t working but was probably supporting himself by selling drugs. He said Malaga was arrested in Bellingham after the murder with 7.5 grams of rock cocaine in his possession.

Malaga was “couch surfing” at different homes during the months in lived in the area. He was staying in a shed behind Garcia’s family home in Rolling Hills, and Garcia had kicked him out just prior to the shooting, Banks said.

After the murder, one of the witnesses identified the shooter as “Nikko” and identified a man named Nicholus from a photo montage of six different people; the witness told police he was “pretty positive” about the photo, according to Bouwens.

But then the witness changed his mind and identified Malaga as the shooter after a woman contacted him and sent him a photo of Malaga.

Bouwens claimed the police didn’t do a follow-up interview to determine why the man changed his identification.

Banks, however, said that the witness who changed his mind didn’t know Malaga in the first place. He said it wasn’t surprising that the witness chose someone else out of the photo line-up.

“The photo looks remarkable similar to Mr. Malaga and remarkably different than the other people in the photo montage,” he said.

In addition, the other eyewitness to the shooting was Malaga’s friend and he had no doubt that Malaga was the shooter, Banks said. Malaga had just moved in with the friend after leaving Garcia’s home and the two had walked together to the meet-up place.

Immediately after the shooting, the friend told a woman that Malaga had shot Garcia, he added.

Banks argued that it was too great a risk to release Malaga from jail.

“The only thing we know about Mr. Malaga’s character and mental state,” he said, “is that he gunned down his friend at practically point-blank range.”

Judge Vickie Churchill agreed with Banks and denied the motion to release Malaga on his personal recognizance.

Malaga is currently facing a charge of second-degree murder. Banks said he would amend the charge to first-degree murder and possibly add other charges if Malaga didn’t agree to a plea deal he offered; the deadline for accepting the deal has past.

Bouwens asked for a continuance of the trial date, which was set for Oct. 20. Banks agreed.

The trial was rescheduled to Feb. 9, 2016.