A 26-year-old California man has admitted using a pickax to kill his younger half brother with cerebral palsy in Ventura County, according to prosecutors.
Zuberi Kalaikulokahiokalani Sharp pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on March 30 and admitted to the special allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury, used a weapon to commit the crime and that the victim — 15-year-old Zayde — was vulnerable, according to the Ventura County district attorney’s office.
Zayde was killed on Dec. 5, 2024, in Newbury Park, authorities said. That night, the boys were alone in a makeshift shed and their uncle went to check on them.
“As he approached he heard a loud ‘thud,’” prosecutors said in a written statement. “When he entered, he saw Sharp standing over Zayde holding a pickaxe.”
Ventura County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the home in the 400 block of Jeanne Court that night after Zayde’s mother called 911 to report the attack. Upon arriving, the deputies found her holding Zayde in her lap. They also learned Sharp had fled the scene.
Shortly after, deputies responded to reports of a man acting erratically on the football field at Newbury Park High School, about a mile away. When they arrived, they found Sharp without clothes and took him into custody.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy for a family that has already endured so much,” said Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. David Russell, a member of the district attorney’s Major Crimes Homicide Unit who prosecuted the case. “While nothing can undo the loss of Zayde, this resolution spares his loved ones from having to relive these horrific events through a lengthy and painful jury trial.”
Sharp, who remains in custody without bail, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 5. He faces 15 years to life in state prison.
