A BLOODY OCTOBER DAY NEAR WHITE ROCK LAKE

Monday, Oct. 12, shook the White Rock Lake area when four homicides were reported in three separate acts of violence in 24 hours.

Zoe Hastings, an 18-year-old Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts graduate, was found dead of “obvious homicidal violence,” according to police, in her vehicle in the 11700 block of Dixfield Drive that morning. The day before, Hastings left her house about 4:40 p.m. to head to a 5 p.m. class at her church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Lake Highlands Drive, but she never arrived.

Police said they believe she stopped at the Walgreens on Garland at Peavy on her way to church to return a Redbox movie. Police searched for witnesses who remember seeing her or her white 2007 Honda Odyssey in that area on Sunday, Oct. 11. At press-time, there were no suspects named in this case. Anyone with information is asked to call the Dallas homicide detectives at 214.671.3584.

Hastings’ father is a Merriman Park Elementary teacher and her mother is a nurse. They released a statement saying, “Our Zoe was full of life and love and light. She was full of talent. She was happy and joyful ... 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.”

In an unrelated crime reported, David Stevens, 53, was hacked to death by a machete-wielding assailant while he was out jogging on the White Rock Creek Trail around 8 a.m. Oct. 12. Police arrested former Texas A&M University football player Thomas Johnson, a graduate of Skyline High School, who was found in blood-stained clothes at the scene and immediately admitted to the crime, according to police reports. “At this time, it appears Mr. Johnson picked his victim at random,” police say.

Stevens’ widow released a statement saying, “This is a horrible, senseless tragedy and we are devastated with the loss of such a wonderful man. It has created a huge hole in our hearts.”

And in yet another unrelated case, Felicia Jones, 56, and her daughter, Tracy Evans, 26, were gunned down during a family dispute in the 2700 block of Millmar Drive around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 12. According to arrest records, Jones was in a relationship with the home’s owner, and the two got into an a verbal fight. When Jones began smashing cars with a hammer and an axe, the man’s grandson, Ronald Bernard Brown, 18, pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired warning shots into the sky. Jones went back into the house where the situation continued to escalate until Brown allegedly shot multiple times, killing both Jones and Evans. Brown then fled the scene, and at press-time he had not been located by police. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Dallas police at 214.671.3584. —Emily Charrier