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A jury in a state district court on Thursday found a 23-year-old man guilty of murder in an August 2024 killing outside an Arlington car wash, according to a Tarrant County District Clerk’s Office record.
Sundall Barnes shot to death Zoin Hodges, who was 20, near the business in the 2500 block of Brown Boulevard.
Barnes elected to have Judge Julie Lugo, who presides in the 372nd District Court, assess his punishment. Judge Lugo sentenced Barnes to life in prison. Barnes will be eligible for parole after he has served 30 years. The range of punishment in the case was five to 99 years, or life, in prison.
Hodges was walking from an apartment complex to a motel where he was staying when he was shot.
On Sept. 7, 2024, officers conducted a traffic stop and found Barnes in the passenger seat of the vehicle, Arlington police have said. In a search of the vehicle, police said they found the gun that was stolen on Aug. 13 from another vehicle.
Ejected cartridge casings from a test fire of the gun matched those found at the scene where Hodges was killed, police have said. DNA linked Barnes to a cigar found near Hodges’ body, according to the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
Barnes declined detectives’ interview request.
In an allocution at Barnes’ sentencing, Hodges’ mother said, “Zoin was not just a victim. He was kind, a good person, and had a family that loved him.”
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Emerson Clarridge covers crime and other breaking news for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He works days and reports on law enforcement affairs in Tarrant County. He previously was a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald and the Observer-Dispatch in Utica, New York.