Arrest made in New Year’s fatal shooting of 4-year-old
Arlington Police Department
BY: BILL HUTCHINSON, ABC NEWS
(ARLINGTON, TX.) The Arlington Police Department has made an arrest in connection to the shooting death of 4-year-old Messiah Taplin.
On Friday afternoon, 21-year-old Zantyler Foster-Hooks was booked into the Arlington City Jail on one count of manslaughter. Based on evidence gathered at the scene and statements the suspect allegedly made to detectives, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was taken into custody without incident a short time later, according to a statement from Arlington police.
The 4-year-old boy was killed in an Arlington, Texas, apartment in the first hour of the new year when police say he was apparently shot by a man dancing and celebrating with a firearm just after the clock struck midnight.
“There were so many irresponsible people last night, shooting firearms in the city,” Lt. Christopher Cook. “It's just a very somber mood on staff today.”
New Year’s reveler was dancing with gun when weapon went off, killing 4-year-old child in Texas: cops Nelson Oliveira
A New Year’s Eve celebration turned into tragedy for a Texas family after a man dancing with a gun fired the weapon inside a Dallas-area home, fatally striking a 4-year-old boy in the head in an apparently accidental shooting, police said.
Messiah Taplin was pronounced dead at a hospital just after 1 a.m. Friday, prompting a homicide investigation overnight and a manslaughter charge against the alleged shooter, 21-year-old Zantyler Foster-Hooks.
Police said the suspect and several other partygoers tried to cover up the shooting, falsely claiming that the child had been shot by a stray bullet.