Antonio Cochran is behind bars for murdering Zoe Hastings, whom prosecutors believe he abducted from a Redbox in the White Rock neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.
On the evening of Oct. 11, 2015, Hastings left her home in the family’s minivan, a white 2007 Honda Odyssey, to attend class at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on East Lake Highlands Drive, but the 18-year-old never made it to her destination.
When relatives learned that she had never arrived at church, they called her phone and sent a slew of text messages, but their attempts to reach her were unsuccessful.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Hastings’ father contacted the Dallas Police Department around 10 p.m. and reported her missing.
The following morning, Hastings was found dead by a man who was driving his daughter to school.
He told authorities that a man had flagged him down near the intersection of Lippett Avenue and Easton Road and said a girl was injured at White Rock Creek, located in the 11700 block of Dixfield Drive.
The man walked to the creek and saw Hastings’ body in the creek near her crashed minivan.
He immediately alerted the police, but before they arrived on the scene, the man who had flagged him down was gone.
Detectives stated that it was evident that Hastings didn’t die in the crash, as her body showed obvious signs of “homicidal violence.”
An autopsy showed that Hastings was stabbed six times in the neck with a pocket knife that was found at the scene.
A small amount of seminal fluid was found on the victim’s body, but forensic experts testified that it “was not enough of a sample for a genetic profile.”
The Dallas County Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, stated that although a small amount of sperm was found, there was no trauma to prove that Hastings was raped.
Hastings had recently graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and she worked as a swimming instructor at the YMCA.
After her death, relatives established a GoFundMe page, where they wrote: “Zoe was vivacious, beautiful, always willing to help and a ball of energy that was always ready to make you smile.”
“Zoe blessed us, so now it’s our turn to give back to her and the amazing family that raised her.”
In a statement, her family said: “Our Zoe was full of life, love, and light. She was full of talent. She was happy and joyful. She is loved by her parents and her siblings. She loved the Lord, Jesus Christ, and loved serving others.”
“She was planning to serve a mission to share this message of the Savior’s love with others. It pains us to know that her life has been taken, yet we feel comfort in knowing that our family is forever and we will be together again someday.”
Police learned through an investigation that while Hastings was on her way to church, she stopped at a Walgreens at Garland and Peavy roads to return a movie to Redbox.
While there, she was approached by Cochran, who had been drinking in the hours prior, and the two began talking. A witness told police that it “looked like he was up to something.”
“He was walking aggressively in a sneaky way. She was trying to get away, and I saw him reach in his pocket, and the next thing you know, she gave in and got in the car.”
Hastings was initially seated in the driver’s seat, but ultimately, she scooted over, and Cochran got into the vehicle and drove off.
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office believed he sexually assaulted Hastings before stabbing her to death and crashing her family’s minivan into White Rock Creek.
After the murder, he sent a text message to a female acquaintance that said: “… I was for you. And my life is over. You will find out soon enough.”
He had also searched online news sites for information regarding Hastings’ murder.
On Oct. 24, 2015, the U.S. Marshals’ Fugitive Apprehension Team arrested Cochran at an east Dallas apartment on Amesbury Drive, after the DNA found on the handle of the pocketknife matched his DNA.
Cochran, then 34, was booked into the Dallas County Jail, where he was held on a $2.5 million bond.
He was charged with capital murder.
Although he was not charged with sexual assault, Dallas police characterized Cochran as a “sexual predator that’s been taken off the streets.”
According to the Valley Morning Star, Cochran’s mother told the television station WFAA that “it don’t [SIC] sound like my son; he’s not a violent person.”
Cochran has a criminal history dating back 15 years, which includes theft, burglary, and assault.
On Feb. 12, 2014, he was arrested in Bowie County, Texas, after being accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl.
Cochran claimed it was consensual, but the teen testified that, in lieu of driving her to a friend’s house, he drove to the 500 block of Madison Drive, where he offered her methamphetamine —she refused.
He then commanded her to perform a sex act on him while they were inside the vehicle. And he allegedly threatened to kill her if she did not follow his instructions.
The victim also testified that Cochran subsequently walked her to a wooded area nearby and sexually assaulted her, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported.
In January 2015, Cochran was found not guilty of sexual assault, and afterward, he moved to Dallas.
When his attorney, Rick Shumaker, in that case, uncovered that Cochran was charged with capital murder in another case, he said, “He wasn’t the kind of person I thought would have ever killed somebody.”
Experts said Cochran had an intellectual disability.
In January 2018, a Dallas County jury deliberated for several days before finding Cochran guilty of murdering Hastings.
That same month, Cochran was sentenced to life in prison.