Prosecutors said the 26-year-old admitted second-degree murder and aggravating factors in the death of his 15-year-old half-brother.

VENTURA, Calif. — A Newbury Park man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the killing of his 15-year-old half-brother after prosecutors said he attacked the boy with a pickaxe inside a converted backyard shed at the family home in December 2024.

Zuberi Kalaikulokahiokalani Sharp, 26, entered the plea March 30 in Ventura County Superior Court, ending the trial phase of a case that drew attention because the victim, Zayde Koehohou, had cerebral palsy and because the killing unfolded inside the family’s home. Prosecutors said Sharp also admitted he inflicted great bodily injury and acknowledged aggravating factors tied to the use of a weapon and the victim’s vulnerability. He is due back in court for sentencing May 5.

The plea brought formal resolution to a case that began the night of Dec. 5, 2024, when the boys were alone together in a converted shed behind the home on Jeanne Court in Newbury Park. Prosecutors said the victim’s mother called 911 at about 8 p.m. after reporting that her older son had attacked his younger half-brother. By the time Ventura County sheriff’s deputies arrived, authorities said, Sharp had already fled. Investigators said the boys’ uncle had gone to check on them after learning they were alone in the shed. As he approached, prosecutors said, he heard a loud thud and then saw Sharp standing over Zayde with a pickaxe.

Deputies found Zayde’s mother holding the injured teenager in her lap, according to prosecutors. The boy had severe head wounds and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Sharp was arrested later that night after deputies received reports of a man behaving erratically on the football field at Newbury Park High School. Prosecutors said he had removed his clothes before deputies found him and took him into custody. Court records released with the plea do not explain a motive for the attack, and officials have not publicly detailed what happened inside the shed in the moments before the killing.

The case carried added weight because of the victim’s age and disability. Prosecutors said Zayde was particularly vulnerable, a factor Sharp admitted as part of the plea. The district attorney’s office identified Senior Deputy District Attorney David Russell as the prosecutor assigned to the case through the Major Crimes Homicide Unit. Russell said in a statement that the resolution would spare the family the pain of reliving the killing through a long jury trial. The public record also shows the case moved beyond the arrest and charging stage into negotiations that ended with a plea to murder rather than a trial verdict.

Months earlier, questions about Sharp’s mental condition had surfaced publicly as the case moved through court, and family remarks after the killing suggested relatives were struggling to make sense of what had happened. But the plea record itself focused on the criminal count and the admitted factors rather than on any fuller explanation of Sharp’s state of mind that night. No public statement released with the plea described a factual dispute over who carried out the attack. Instead, the case shifted from proving guilt at trial to deciding punishment, with Sharp remaining in custody without bail as the sentencing date approached.

The guilty plea also changed the tone of the proceedings for a family already speaking through grief. Prosecutors framed the court outcome as a way to avoid forcing relatives to hear the details again in open court before a jury. Outside that, public comment has been limited. The strongest official statement came from Russell, who said, “This is an unimaginable tragedy for a family that has already endured so much.” That line underscored how the case has been treated by authorities: not only as a homicide prosecution, but as a deeply personal crime inside a household where the victim depended on others for care and safety.

The case now stands at the sentencing stage. Sharp is scheduled to return to Ventura County Superior Court at 9 a.m. May 5 in courtroom 12, where he faces 15 years to life in state prison.

Author note: Last updated April 23, 2026.