by Tristan Hallman
DALLAS, TEXAS – October 27, 2015 (Gephardt Daily/ Dallas Morning News) – An 18-year-old woman killed two weeks ago was stabbed and left for dead near a creek, according to court documents, the Dallas Morning News reported Tuesday.
Police had previously declined to say how Zoe Hastings died. But some new details are in a search warrant affidavit for Antonio Lamar Cochran’s northeast Dallas apartment.
The warrant was executed Saturday, the day Cochran, 34, was arrested and accused of abducting and killing Hastings on Oct. 11. He is charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty. Authorities say his DNA was found at the crime scene.
Police said in the affidavit that they were looking for any blood, DNA, hair, bullets, knives, guns, car keys, cellphones, computers and other possible evidence.
Hastings was on her way to church Sunday evening when she stopped at a Walgreens to return Redbox movies. There, she and Cochran started arguing, police said in the court records.
Cochran allegedly forced his way into Hastings’ minivan. She was found dead outside of the minivan the next morning near a creek in the 11700 block of Dixfield Drive. Police said she was stabbed and had suffered “obvious homicidal violence,” but do not give any more detail about the way she died.
The two did not know each other. The killing left police on a two-week hunt for information that might lead to her killer. Authorities credited efforts by friends and complete strangers to Hastings for their efforts to find a suspect.
Police also called Cochran “a sexual predator.” Cochran has not been charged with a sex crime, but was acquitted of a rape charge earlier this year in Texarkana. He moved to Dallas afterward.
Cochran’s attorney, a public defender, said Monday that problems with the 17-year-old accuser’s testimony there gave the jury doubts.
Cochran could face the death penalty if he is convicted. First Assistant District Attorney Messina Madson said no decisions have been made in the case.
