Jyzyk Sharpe sentenced for 2014 death of 1-year-old child

PALMER, Alaska (KTUU) - Jyzyk Sharpe, the man accused of killing 1-year-old Ezekial Dockery, was sentenced Friday by a Superior Court judge in Palmer. The sentence comes after eight years of court delays and setbacks, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s given me some closure, more than I thought it would,” Ezekial’s father Brian Dockery said.

Sharpe pleaded guilty to manslaughter as part of a plea deal taken last September after his trial had already been set to get underway. On Friday, Superior Court Judge Gregory Miller accepted the terms and sentenced Sharpe to 20 years in prison with 10 suspended and five years probation.

According to court documents, Wasilla police responded to a home on the 200 block of East Quincy Circle in March of 2014 where they found a man performing CPR on the child. Medics transported the child to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Sharpe told investigators that the infant had fallen as he tried to get in the shower with his twin sisters, but the medical examiner said the injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma.

Dockery’s mother was the first to give an impact statement during Friday’s sentencing hearing in a Palmer courtroom. She was overcome with emotion as she approached the podium but managed to find the courage to speak, calling the loss of her son an “ongoing nightmare that will never end” and disagreed with the plea deal offered by the state — saying Sharpe deserves a life sentence.

Ezekial Dockery’s grandmother — who flew up from Oklahoma along with his father and twin sisters to be present for the sentencing — addressed Sharpe directly during her testimony.

“I can only hope and pray you have no peace, no rest, and you are haunted by what you did to Ezekial,” she stated.

In total, five family members — including Dockery’s three older sisters and father — took the opportunity to address Sharpe before he read a statement of his own, admitting to his responsibility and offering an apology to the court.

“Ezekial isn’t here because of me,” Sharpe said. “I will bear that for the rest of my days.”

After a 10-minute recess, the court reconvened and Judge Miller handed down Sharpe’s sentence. Sharpe was then fingerprinted and given a few moments to say goodbye to the three people who were in attendance for him, before a court officer led him out of the room.

Dockery’s father, sisters, and grandmother gathered on the steps outside the Palmer Courthouse to thank State Prosecutor Krista Anderson for her work before leaving the court’s parking lot one last time.

“Enjoy every moment you have with your child, because you don’t know when that day may be their last,” Brian Dockery said. “Always tell your children that you love them and mean it.”

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