On August 30, 2024, at about 1:20 a.m., Arlington Police responded to reports of gunfire near a car wash in the 2500 block of Brown Boulevard and found 20-year-old Zion Hodges lying on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators developed tips identifying an individual known as Maxxo, later determined to be 21-year-old Sundall Barnes, as the shooter. Barnes had been linked to an unrelated August 13, 2024 incident involving the theft of a firearm from a vehicle. On September 7, 2024, officers stopped a vehicle in which Barnes was a passenger, arrested him on outstanding warrants from the theft case and recovered the stolen firearm. Ballistic testing matched shell casings from that firearm to casings at the Hodges crime scene.

Barnes was charged with murder and booked into the Arlington City Jail before transfer to the Tarrant County Jail, where he is being held. He also faces charges including Theft of Firearm, Possession of Marijuana over 2 ounces, Burglary of Vehicles, and Obstruction, with total bond set at $82,500. Investigators do not believe the shooting was random, though a clear motive has not been established; Hodges appears to have been walking from an apartment complex to a nearby motel when he was shot.

If anyone knew Zion Hodges or has information about the shooting, please come forward to investigators.