Jury Seated for Trial of Man Accused in MoVal Party Killing

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A jury was seated Thursday for the trial of a young man accused of gunning down an 18-year-old partygoer in Moreno Valley, in an ambush connected to an earlier fight that prosecutors say was fueled by racial animosity.

Darren Peter Zesk, 22, of Riverside is charged with first-degree murder, special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and perpetrating a hate crime, as well as sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations, for the 2020 fatal shooting of Massai Jevon Cole of Inglewood.

Following four days of screening multiple panels of prospective jurors, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz swore in a jury Thursday at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The judge scheduled opening statements for Monday morning.

Zesk is being held on $2 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.

His cousin, 21-year-old Jared Lee Zesk of Riverside, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced last June to 11 years in state prison. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against him as part of the plea agreement.

Darren Zesk is accused of gunning down Cole in the predawn hours of Feb. 2, 2020.

According to a trial brief filed by Deputy District Attorney Kevin Beecham, the Zesks were among dozens of people who gathered at 16512 Century St., near Amy Court, for a house party that turned confrontational, with the two cousins engaging in fisticuffs with Cole and other celebrants.

The defendants fled from the property, leaving in Darren Zesk’s car, but returned 90 minutes later, arriving about 2:30 a.m., the brief said.

It alleged Darren Zesk was known to bear ill-will toward Blacks, listening to music with “white power” overtones and texting friends with messages containing the “N” word, in one instance writing that Black people “belong in the zoo.”

Court papers allege Darren Zesk left his cousin behind near the car while he went back inside the party house, getting Cole’s attention. Beecham alleged that Zesk drew the victim out of the residence on the pretext of wanting him to finish the fight that had erupted earlier.

“While walking near the side gate from the backyard, the defendant turned around and shot the victim in the torso,” according to the brief. “Darren Zesk fired additional shots toward the residence. The cousins then ran back to their vehicle and fled the area.”

The pair drove to Riverside as partygoers called 911, the prosecution said.

Paramedics reached the house within minutes and discovered Cole mortally wounded. He died at the scene.

Witnesses provided sufficient information for sheriff’s deputies to immediately identify the alleged perpetrators.

Darren Zesk was arrested without incident a half-hour later on Huston Drive in Riverside, according to sheriff’s officials. Jared Zesk was taken into custody three days afterward in Jurupa Valley.

The defense successfully argued before a trial court judge last year for dismissal of the hate crime allegation. However, the District Attorney’s Office appealed the decision, and an appellate court reinstated it.

Zesk has no documented prior felony convictions.

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