Cellphone records, search history used as evidence in Zoe Hastings murder trial

DALLAS - Prosecutors focused on the suspect’s cellphone during the trial Tuesday for the man accused of murdering Zoe Hastings, an 18-year-old Dallas teenager.

Prosecutors returned to work trying to prove Antonio Cochran killed Hastings on Oct. 11, 2015.

James Crowder, who manages the Fiesta Mart on Abrams Road, testified that Cochran did not show up for work on Oct. 12.

Cyber specialist Detective Eric Weast told jurors what he learned from searching Cochran’s cellphone. He said Cochran didn’t make or answer any calls for a span of hours on the day of the murder. But earlier that day, he texted several people and seemed distraught.

The following day he sent a text message that said, “No, I was for you, and my life is over you’ll find out soon enough.”

Weast also found that Cochran searched for news about Hastings’ murder 32 times. In the 30 days before the murder, there was only one other search for a news story in his phone history.

The detective said records show Cochran’s phone was in the same area where Hastings was abducted from a Walgreens and where she was found on Oct. 11.

On Friday, medical experts confirmed Cochran’s DNA was found on Hastings’ body. Another witness said he saw Cochran grab her as she left a drug store near White Rock Lake.

Hastings was on her way to church for a Bible study class. Her body was found in a creek near the lake.

Cochran is accused of kidnapping and capital murder. If convicted, he cannot get the death penalty because a court ruled he has an intellectual disability.

The state rested its case Tuesday afternoon. Testimony will resume on Wednesday.

Follow FOX 4's Shaun Rabb on Twitter for continued coverage of the trial --> twitter.com/shaunrabbfox4.