PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Police made a startling discovery inside a house in Portsmouth in January. They found a body inside the home at 19 Prospect Parkway in the Cradock neighborhood.

It was first reported as an undetermined death investigation, but now new clues have changed it to a homicide.

In this neighborhood on Prospect Parkway, you’ll find many abandoned houses, some being worked on by contractors. But this abandoned home saw the last minutes of Daryle Konczal’s life.

Police were given a tip and found him the morning of January 18. An autopsy revealed he’d been shot — the bullet entering his forearm, exiting through his bicep. According to police documents, a trail of blood led to the upstairs bathroom where Konczal bled out and died.

“I just want justice for Daryle,” Jacquelyn Conti, his cousin, said.

Conti no longer lives in Virginia, but recorded a message for WAVY News 10 about her cousin.

“Daryle was a really good person. He had his ways, but he was an amazing person. He loved his kids, he loved his family.”

She says Konczal had two boys, ages 10 and 12. She says he was homeless.

She admits he had been addicted to drugs, but was trying to outrun those addictions, looking for new prospects.

“He didn’t deserve to pass away like this. He loved his Aunt Laurel, my mom, he loves his girlfriend, Amy, he definitely loved me. He was a very good person.”

According to police documents, Konczal’s girlfriend heard from him last on January 13. Very much like these homes being renovated, Konczal, too, was a work in progress. His cousin, saying he was full of love and hope.

“I wish he was here. He’d be proud of me.”

Portsmouth police tell WAVY News 10 this is an ongoing investigation and no arrests have been made.