Dallas police arrested a man on Saturday who allegedly abducted and killed a teen who was on her way to church.
Advertisement
Cochran was charged with capital murder and his bond was set at $1 million, police said.
Cochran also matched descriptions given by witnesses who saw Hastings’ abduction from a Walgreens. The police stated she was at the Garland Road Walgreens to return a Red Box movie, and Cochran allegedly got into the auto as Hastings moved into the passenger seat, according to witnesses.
Members of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Apprehension Team located Cochran and arrested him Saturday, police said.
Police say Cochran matched the descriptions witnesses provided, and comparisons with DNA evidence confirmed his connection to the case late Friday. “I could just tell that she had died”.
Police say they are zeroing in on a one-hour window starting from the time Hastings was possibly last seen with the man in the van.
“He’s obviously a sexual predator that’s been taken off the streets, hopefully not to do this ever again”, Dallas Police Major Max Geron told reporters.
It is not known what brought Cochran to the Dallas area.
“Citizens throughout the community provided invaluable tips that aided in this arrest”, Geron said in a statement. The girl said Cochran threatened to kill her before sexually assaulting her in the vehicle and in a wooded area.
In the Bowie County sexual assault trial, a 17-year-old girl testified that Cochran, who had dated her mother, offered to give her a ride February 12, 2014. A manager at a Hooters in Texarkana confirmed that he had worked there as a cook, but she said he hadn’t been employed there for at least three months. She was last seen leaving her home at about 4:45 p.m.to attend a 5 p.m. class at her church.
Hastings is a recent graduate of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, according to her Facebook page.
The Family of Zoe Hastings is so grateful for the Dallas Police Department’s swift action in making this arrest.
Advertisement
“This family, as you can imagine, is grieving”, Brown said, “but is also happy about the way that this community has come together, because it is representative of the way that Zoe lived her life, a life that she lived for others”.
