Update October 26, 2015, 9:07 am: Please see the probable cause affidavit regarding the Capital Murder arrest of Antonio Lamar Cochran B/M 1-19-1981. Antonio Lamar Cochran is currently in the Dallas County Jail.
A Statement from Chief David O. Brown
October 24, 2015 3:40 pm
I would like to commend the men and women of the Dallas Police Department, particularly the Homicide Unit, for their hard work and dedication in the Zoe Hastings murder investigation. Investigators worked countless hours and followed numerous leads throughout the last several days to identify and track down the suspect who committed this horrific crime. This would not have been possible without the involvement of the citizens of this great city. Citizens throughout the community provided invaluable tips that aided in this arrest. In addition, Oak Farms Dairy’s reward offer kept the tips flowing and we are grateful for their generosity. I would also like to commend the media for their efforts in keeping this story in the news by broadcasting important information out to the community.
Our prayers and thoughts will continue to be with the Hasting’s family as we proceed through the criminal justice process.
David O. Brown
Chief of Police
Video of Press Conference in its entirety on arrest.
UPDATE OCTOBER 24, 2015 2:00 pm
The department is pleased to announce that we have made an arrest of the suspect responsible for the murder of Zoe Hastings.
First I want to extend our sincere appreciation and thanks to the Hastings family for their patience and support in what I can only imagine is the most difficult event they’ve ever been through – to each and every citizen volunteer who gave their time to help canvass the neighborhoods – to the hundreds of citizens who took the time to call and report possible leads to our detectives, – to Oak Farms Dairy for the generous offer of a reward, – to the crime scene technicians and analysts who meticulously processed the crime scene for physical evidence, – to the members of our U.S. Marshals Fugitive Apprehension team and finally to our very hard working detectives of the Dallas Police Homicide Unit. This truly was a community policing success given the involvement and cooperation of citizens and police.
Late last night, we received the results from DNA tests conducted on physical evidence recovered from the crime scene. Those results showed a match with an individual in the DNA database.
The suspect identified as Antonio Lamar Cochran B/M 1-19-1981, matched the description of the witness who saw him abduct Zoe from the Walgreens and drive off with her. We gave this information to our detectives assigned to the U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Apprehension Team and in less than 8 hours they were able to locate and arrest him in an apartment in Northeast Dallas early this morning.
He has been taken to the Dallas County Jail and charged with Capital Murder and his bond is currently set at $1 Million dollars.
Once again I want to say thank you to the Hasting family and our citizens for the way they came together to assist us in solving this tragic murder.
UPDATE OCTOBER 20, 2015 4:00 pm
Thank you to the family, friends and citizen volunteers who have helped in canvassing, relaying information and who have worked to assist police in solving this tragic crime. Detectives continue to work diligently on investigating the murder of Ms. Zoe Hastings.
We have been given information by a witness who describes seeing a B/M approximately 5’10, 170lbs with a bushy afro, speak to a blonde woman in a white minivan at the Walgreens at 9937 Garland Road around the time period we believe Ms. Hastings disappeared. The witness described seeing the male get into the minivan as the female moved over to the passenger seat.
Further, we have recovered physical evidence that corroborates another witness’ statement that Ms. Hasting’s vehicle was involved in a collision near the intersection of Newcombe Dr. and Peavy Rd. between 4:40 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, 2015. Ms. Hastings vehicle appears to have collided with a speed limit sign there.
We are aware of a female who likely witnessed the collision. We would like to locate her and anyone who may have seen the collision involving the van.
We are also asking people who live within the radius of this circle on this map who may have home security footage during this time that may have captured images of this van to also reach out to detectives.
Detectives have canvassed and continue to canvass the area homes and businesses for video or witnesses. We also would like to reiterate that we’ve received a number of calls from people reporting sightings of Ms. Hasting’s white Honda Odyssey. We have that van and are not looking for it. We are simply asking for people who saw her van between 4:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, 2015 to contact police.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to please call Detective Sayers at (214) 671 – 3647.
UPDATE OCTOBER 14, 2015 5:30 pm
We want to thank the members of the community who have come forward with information related to this case and we want to update the public on the progress of the case thus far and ask for their continued assistance related to information we have discovered.
We believe that at about 4:40 p.m. on Sunday, October 11, 2015, Zoe left home and drove to the Walgreens Drug Store at the corner of Garland Rd. and Peavy Rd. to return a Red Box Movie. We believe she left shortly thereafter.
We are currently reaching out to Walgreens as well as the media to try and identify any customers who may have been in the store between 4:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday so that homicide detectives can reach out and see if they remember either seeing Zoe, the van or anyone else of interest to the case.
Additionally, members of Zoe’s family have and advised us that they will be organizing a canvass of the area around the crime scene tomorrow starting at 5:00 p.m. at Norbuck Park located at 200 North Buckner Boulevard.
Detectives canvassed area homes and businesses today and we are currently working on processing all related physical evidence collected. We hope to know more as evidence is processed as we follow up on leads. We will provide additional details as they become available.
If anyone has information regarding the murder, they should contact
Detective S. Sayers #7157
Dallas Police Homicide Unit
214-671-3647
ORIGINAL POST OCTOBER 13, 2015 AT 5:20 pm
On October 12, 2015, at 8:30 a.m., officers responded to the 11700 block of Dixfield Drive regarding a 2007 white Honda Odyssey in the creek. Upon the officers’ arrival, they found Zoe Hastings, White female 18, deceased from obvious homicidal violence.
Zoe, a recent graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts, was found dead in her minivan near Easton Road and East Lake Highlands Drive. Detectives believe she left her home Sunday evening to go to a nearby church.
Oak Farms will pay $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and grand jury indictment of the person responsible for Ms. Hastings’ death. Anyone with information is asked to call the Dallas Police Department Homicide Unit (214) 671 -3584 or the Crime Stoppers Tip Line (214) 373- TIPS (8477).