Zuberi Kalaikulokahiokalani Sharp pled guilty on March 30 to second-degree murder of his 15-year-old brother, Zayde Keohohou who suffered from cerebral palsy, with a pickaxe. Zuberi Sharp killed Keohohou in Newbury Park on Dec. 4, 2024 around 8 p.m., and was found by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office on the Newbury Park High School football field. Zuberi Sharp was taken into custody upon discovery.
Authorities were alerted of the murder by Zuberi Sharp’s mother, who called to report that Zuberi Sharp attacked his brother. She was alerted after Zuberi Sharp’s uncle went to check on the boys and heard a “thud” before entering the shed and seeing Zuberi Sharp standing over Keohohou’s body holding a pickaxe. Deputies arrived at the scene in the 400 block of Jeanne Court to find Zuberi Sharp’s mother holding Keohohou’s body. Keohohou was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Keohohou was stated as vulnerable to the attack, and since birth had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy and 14 other illnesses or conditions.
Following Keohohou’s death, family members issued a public statement: “We appreciate the outpouring of love, aloha, support and prayers from friends and ohanas and this wonderful community.” A GoFundMe was also started to raise money for Keohohou’s funeral costs, and raised nearly $70,000 weeks after the murder.
Zuberi Sharp’s case is being prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney David Russell, and his first court appearance was on Dec. 9, 2024. His first appearance was followed by a competency hearing in July 2025 in which he was found competent to stand trial by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kristi Peariso. “This is an unimaginable tragedy for a family that has already endured so much,” Russell said in one of his statements on the case. In Zuberi Sharp’s plea he admitted that he “personally inflicted great bodily injury and the aggravating factors of using a weapon to commit the crime and the victim being particularly vulnerable,” stated by the prosecutor.
Zuberi Sharp’s father has been identified as Calvin Sharp, who was convicted of killing a 6-year-old with a meat cleaver at the Hillcrest Park Apartments in 2007. Calvin Sharp was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 and is still in the Sacramento California State Prison. Calvin Sharp issued an insanity plea, but was found sane and competent to stand trial.
Zuberi Sharp’s case will be heard at the Ventura County Superior Court on May 5 at 9 a.m.. He is currently in custody at Todd Road Jail without possibility of bail and could face a sentence of 15 years to life in a state prison.
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