Eighteen-year-old Zoey took a drive to return a rental movie at the local Redbox at a Walgreens parking lot before heading to church. She never made it. Soon after, the worst news would come.
A witness did come forward reporting that an unknown male abducted Zoe and forced her into the passenger side of her car, kidnapping her, and driving away.
The next day, her family used a phone app to locate her, and thankfully the police got there before the family did. They warned the family not to go and see her the way she was. This would be a horrific sight they would never be able to unsee.
Zoe's body was found outside of her minivan that was found crashed into a dry creek bed.
Her throat had been slashed several times.
Suspect Antonio Cochran, 34 was immediately the suspect after his DNA was found at the crime scene. A search warrant was executed for his apartment, which proved to be the person that took her life.
January of 2015, Cochran was acquitted of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's daughter.
It took the jury 4 days of the trial with only seven minutes before they returned their guilty verdict. Cochran was sentenced to life. He is afforded the possibility of parole.
Information accumulated by:
CBS News
Inside Edition
OBITUARY
Zoe Hastings passed away suddenly this past week. She will be forever remembered for the genuine light she brought to everyone lucky enough to know her.
Zoe was the kind of person who set a goal every day to make someone smile. She was also the kind of person who achieved that goal every single day.
Zoe graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts this past spring. Her focus was visual arts and theater. She was involved in several stage productions there. Some of the highlights being a role in Midsummer Night's Dream and as costume designer for The Diary of Anne Frank. Her love of acting and theater cannot be overstated.
Zoe was also very proud of her work as a lifeguard at the White Rock YMCA this past summer. She was promoted to a supervisor by the end of the summer.
Also a gifted visual artist, Zoe excelled in drawing and painting. Last year she had the opportunity to collaborate with her father, artist and educator Jim Hastings, on an exhibit comprised of ink and watercolor pieces titled Botanical Menagerie at Texas Discovery Garden. She also worked as a studio assistant at Studio Arts Dallas.
A lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Zoe was very dedicated to her faith. She was a graduate of their Seminary program and was delaying offers from six top universities to serve an 18 month mission for the church. The comments currently flooding her and her friends' social media are about what an example of Christlike love Zoe is and how so many look up to her as a role model and positive example of living her standards and always serving others.
Zoe was adored by her parents and siblings and was central to her family's cohesion. She was known to take the initiative to talk about the ways harmony and happiness could be improved upon in her home by thoughtfully referencing the leaders of her faith. She didn't wait to be led if she needed to lead.
Zoe's sudden passing has shaken her community and the profoundly positive impact her life has had on so many is made evident by the support the community continues to offer her family.
Zoe is survived immediately by her father and mother, Jim and Cheryl Hastings, and her younger siblings, Hanna, Tristan, Ruby and Olive. She also leaves behind her grandmothers and her maternal grandfather along with several aunts, uncles and cousins. Zoe has been reunited with her paternal grandfather and maternal great grandmother who both passed away earlier this year and is at peace with her Heavenly Father and her Savior, Jesus Christ.
Her light will be missed.
There will be a viewing for Miss Hastings on Friday evening from 6-8 p. m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 10701 Lake Highlands Dr.
The funeral services will be held Saturday morning at 11 a. m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 10701 Lake Highlands Dr.
Zoe lived by and firmly believed in this quote:
"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi
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Buried October 17, 2015.
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