A city grieves after brutal murder of 6-year-old boy
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

BILL SPARKES/Acorn Newspapers REMEMBERING- Jordan Cuevas, 9, of Newbury Park watches as his mother, Anna Shima, places balloons and a candle in the courtyard of the apartment complex where a 6-year-old boy was killed and his mother critically injured. The attack took place in the 1800 block of W. Hillcrest Drive in Newbury Park last Sunday evening. A 54-year-old woman, who tried to intervene, was also injured.

Pools of blood have been washed away and a makeshift memorial of flowers, teddy bears and balloons now fill the space where a 6-year-old boy was killed with a meat cleaver as his mother fought the assailant to save her son's life.

Neighbors surrounded the memorial on Monday evening, recalling how young Sev'n Molina ran out of the first floor apartment he shared with his mother, Sandra Ruiz, 33, and into the courtyard with a man chasing him shouting, "Die, die, die!"

"His mother was saying, 'Take the child, take the child,' and I grabbed for him, but I could not get a hold of the kid. The cleaver was flying around and he pulled the kid closer to him," said Patrick Bowman, who lives in an apartment above Ruiz.

The terrible attack happened at around 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 1800 block of W. Hillcrest Drive in Newbury Park.

Ruiz was critically injured in the attack. A slashed arm and an almost completely severed hand were among her wounds at the scene, according to witnesses. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was initially listed in critical condition. She has improved and is expected to recover.

A 54-year-old unidentified woman at the scene, who witnesses credit with trying to stop the attack by somehow knocking the cleaver out of the attacker's hand, received a cut on her face. She was treated at the hospital and released.

A Ventura County coroner's report stated Sev'n died of sharp force head trauma.

After police subdued him with a Taser gun, Calvin Leonard Sharp, 27, was arrested on suspicion of one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He is in custody at Ventura County Jail with bail set at $1 million.

TRAGIC EXPERIENCE- Patrick Bowman, 21, and Christine Kindred, 18, of Newbury Park live above the apartment where the incident began. It started with screams, they said, on Sunday night. A 6-year-old boy was murdered. The bloody attack took place at an apartment complex, right, in the 1800 block of W. Hillcrest Drive in Newbury Park. The suspect was arrested by authorities, but they had to use a Taser gun. BILL SPARKES Acorn Newspapers

Sharp knew Ruiz and her son and had been at the apartment regularly, neighbor Christine Kindred said.

A business license to drive a cab was issued to Sharp in April by the city of Thousand Oaks, city spokesperson Andrew Powers said. Such a license requires drug testing.

Among those leaving items at the courtyard memorial were Sev'n's preschool teachers Lisa Kellenberger and Shannon Farrar. They'd taught the young boy for three years.

"He was a loving boy, one of my favorites," Kellenberger said. "We used video games to encourage good behavior and he liked that, but all he really wanted was lots of love."

Then she recalled how much Sev'n loved puppets.

"I should've brought him a puppet, too," she said.