“Everything he said, except possibly his name, was not true” - Details on why Kevin Kervin tried to save Zamar Kirven explored

On April 18, 2021, Zamar Kirven, the star basketball player at the University of Houston, was arrested and convicted for the double murder of his football friends Jacob D’Shaun Ybarra and Sabion Ramone Kubitza. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

However, Zamar's older cousin, Kevin Kirven, took the blame for the murders during the opening statements in an alleged attempt to save his cousin from jail time. Prosecutor Ryan Calvert and Kristi DeCluitt disregarded the claim as the confession did not match the evidence in court. As reported by KWTX, DeCluitt stated:

"Everything he said, except possibly his name, was not true."

Kevin continued:

“I wanted to keep him out of trouble so he wouldn’t mess his life up like me. I took matters into my own hands. I told him to give me the gun because I didn’t want him doing anything crazy.”

The Murder Under the Friday Night Lights episode Breaking Bonds airs on February 21, 2024, at 10 pm EST on Investigation Discovery and showcases the double murders of Ybarra and Kubitza. The synopsis reads:

"The Ybarra family wake to find their son Jacob and his best friend, Sabion, shot to death; as star football players for their high schools, the murders shatter two small Texas towns; the tragedy worsens when the community learns who the killer is."

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Zamar Kirven shot Jacob Ybarra and Sabion Kubitza to death in April 2018

Zamar Kirven was allegedly high on the hallucinogenic drug LSD when he pulled the trigger on his Glock 9mm and killed his friend and football teammates from Mart High School—Jacob Ybarra and Sabion Kubitza. Zamar Kirven's athletic prowess "was the way out for their family" as his cousin and a repeated law offender, Kevin Kirven, mentioned to the law enforcement officers:

“I felt like he was going to the NFL. All he had to do is get his life right. I wasn’t going to let him do that.”

Kirven was the star linebacker for the 2017 Mart state championship football team with Ybarra and he eventually played for the University of Houston Cougars in 2018 and 2019 before he faced suspension for violating team rules. He was subsequently suspended from the university after his academics suffered and he faced charges for carrying a gun.

A long-time resident of Mart, Texas spoke to The Houston Chronicle saying:

“I know these kids. When I tell you Zamar was a good kid, he was a good kid. When I tell you he went bad, he went bad.”

During Zamar Kirven's hearings, his cousin and a convicted felon, Kevin Kirven, took the fall for him but was dismissed as his claims did not match the evidence in court. He additionally confessed to other murders while he was on the stand.

Kevin was already facing multiple life sentences for murders in the Limestone and Tarrant counties. He also had five counts of charges of attempted murder for allegedly firing shots at police officers in McLennan County.

According to the Waco-Tribune Herald, the victim coordinator with the DA’s office, Pam Sellers, read a statement from Sabion Kubitza’s mother addressing Zamar Kirven. She wrote:

“You not only took away Sabion and Jacob’s lives but you impacted many other lives. You killed them for no reason and showed no remorse so you deserve everything you will get in your sentence. You may have been high but you knew what you did because you posted about it on Snapchat.”

Ybarra’s sister read from a statement that their late mother, Maria, wrote before she passed away. It read:

“I just got out of the hospital trying to get my life back together and what you did set me back. I considered you family. We took you in and you betrayed us."

Zamar Kirven lived with Ybarra and his cousin, Kubitza, in the same house on the 1100 block of East Texas Avenue.