Neighbors give time and money to a family in crisis

from 2015 December Lake Highlands

A VERY RESOLUTE NEW YEAR

In October several Lake Highlands and White Rock Lake communities joined in support of Lake Highlands couple Jim and Cheryl Hastings, whose eldest daughter Zoe, 18, was found murdered in the Dixon Branch neighborhood.

Ginger Greenberg, whose sister is Zoe Hastings’ aunt, estimated that 200-300 volunteers showed up at a Norbuck Park event, held a week after the homicide, to help Dallas police canvass the neighborhoods surrounding the crime scene.

Volunteers went door-to-door throughout the entire area surrounding the creek where Zoe Hastings’ body was discovered, and the Walgreens where police believe she was abducted, asking residents and homeowners for relevant information and home-surveillance footage. Greenberg said volunteers returned with a boxful of answered questionnaires that may have contained helpful leads for the five detectives working the Hastings case. Within a few days police arrested a suspect, Antonio Lamar Cochran, whose DNA matched that recovered at the crime scene. Witness testimony has been vital to the investigation, a police spokesperson said at the time. Oak Farms and Dean Foods offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.

The company has been putting up reward money in unsolved murder cases since the 1970s. More than 1,000 people contributed about $66,700 to the Hastings family (as of publication date) through online fundraisers. Local business LH Creamery donated proceeds from their booth at the Merriman Park Elementary fall carnival to the Hastings family. Another White Rock area company, New Leaf Construction, donated proceeds from a November home tour to the Hastings family. Donations have helped Jim Hastings, a teacher at Merriman Park Elementary in Richardson ISD, and his wife, Cheryl, afford funeral expenses, time off work to spend with their other four children and a new family vehicle after the family minivan was involved in the murder. In a video released by the Hastingses, Jim spoke about Zoe leaving a note for their mailman, inquiring about his favorite snacks. She planned to leave a care package for him the following week. “She was just interested in people, and wanted to make them happy,” he said, adding that she died before having the opportunity to leave the mail carrier’s gift. One neighborhood resident left a gift for the Hastings’ mailman on Zoe Hastings’ behalf. The social media hashtag #livelikezoe was created to inspire similar acts of kindness.

PAWS & CLAWS

A ruff life

This 4-year-old shepherd mix Bailey had it tough her first few years, but she’s been blossoming “in leaps and bounds” since meeting her human, Lake Highlands resident Teresa Gant, who rescued her two years ago. “When I first laid eyes on her I immediately fell in love, and she’s been my girl ever since,” Gant says. In her new secure and loving home, wide-eyed Bailey has changed from skittish and frightened to happy and affectionate, Gant says. “She has learned to trust, protect and just be a dog again.”

Sunday, December 20, 6:30 pm

EDCC Chancel Choir & Handbell Choir

Guest Soloists

Alfrelynn Roberts, Coretta Smith, Paul Mason, Bobby Tinnion

Guest Choir

Alfrelynn Roberts, Coretta Smith, Paul Mason, Bobby Tinnion

Guest Choir

Booker T. Washington High School Treble Choir

Musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

East Dallas Christian Church 629 N. Peak Street ♦ Dallas, TX 75246 www.edcc.org

Daniel Pardo’s From A Land Far Away

Concert Series

Free admission and open seating

Donations accepted for EDCC Concert Series

Reception following with Christmas Cookies

Neighbors give time and money to a family in crisis

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This article is from:

2015 December Lake Highlands