The defendant admitted murder and aggravating factors that prosecutors say will shape the punishment phase next month.
VENTURA, Calif. — A Ventura County judge is now set to decide punishment in the killing of 15-year-old Zayde Koehohou after his older half-brother pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and admitted factors prosecutors say made the crime more severe.
The admissions by Zuberi Kalaikulokahiokalani Sharp, 26, changed the center of the case. The court no longer needs to determine who attacked Zayde in a converted backyard shed on Dec. 5, 2024. Instead, the focus shifts to how the judge weighs the facts Sharp accepted: that he inflicted great bodily injury, that he used a weapon and that the victim was particularly vulnerable. Sharp faces 15 years to life in prison and remains jailed without bail ahead of a May 5 sentencing hearing.
Those admitted factors matter because they tell the story prosecutors want the court to carry into sentencing. Zayde had cerebral palsy, and the district attorney’s office highlighted that condition when announcing the plea. In doing so, prosecutors signaled that the case is not being presented simply as a homicide inside a family home, but as the killing of a younger and vulnerable boy who depended on others for care and protection. The state also stressed the use of a pickaxe, a detail that supports the weapon factor Sharp admitted and adds force to the argument that the attack was especially brutal.
The factual record prosecutors released is spare but direct. They said the boys were alone in the converted shed at the family home in Newbury Park when the victim’s uncle went to check on them. As he approached, prosecutors said, he heard a loud thud. Inside, he saw Sharp standing over Zayde with the pickaxe. At about 8 p.m., the victim’s mother called 911 to report the attack. Deputies arrived to find her holding the teenager in her lap, according to prosecutors, while Sharp had already fled. Zayde was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
From a procedural standpoint, the case now looks much narrower than it once did. Earlier stages had raised questions about Sharp’s mental condition, and public reporting after the arrest reflected that uncertainty. But the plea resolved the central criminal allegation without a trial. That means no jury, no extended witness examination and no public contest over the basic events described by investigators. It also means the sentencing hearing could become the only remaining courtroom setting in which the public hears a fuller discussion of Sharp’s background, his condition at the time of the offense and the family’s account of what the killing has cost them.
There is also the unusual path of the arrest itself. After the attack, deputies got reports of a man acting erratically on the football field at Newbury Park High School. Prosecutors said they found Sharp there after he had removed his clothing and took him into custody. That behavior became part of the public picture of the case, but officials have not tied it to a specific motive or released a detailed narrative explaining what led from the shed to the field. As a result, the sentencing phase may carry more public interest than usual because it could answer some questions left open by the plea.
Prosecutors have already made clear what they believe the plea accomplished. Senior Deputy District Attorney David Russell said the resolution avoids forcing the family to relive the killing through a lengthy and painful jury trial. That comment hints at the balance now before the court: punishment for a deadly act, recognition of the victim’s vulnerability and a legal process that ends without a public airing of every detail. For a case built on violence inside a home, the next hearing may be the final official statement of how the justice system measures that harm.
Sharp is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. May 5 in courtroom 12 of Ventura County Superior Court. Until then, the case remains in a holding pattern, with guilt established and the sentence still to be decided.
Author note: Last updated April 23, 2026.