Zebulon T. Aaron Murder in Lewisville

Ice Pick Murder

Zebulon T. Aaron is serving a 30-year prison sentence in Arkansas for killing a family member in Lafayette County.

Aaron, who was 38 years old at the time of his plea, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in December 2017 in 8th South Circuit Court in Texarkana. The case stemmed from the death of James Langston, a 53-year-old carpenter from Lewisville.

According to court records and law enforcement reports, Langston was stabbed in the left ear with an ice pick during an assault that occurred in January 2016. Langston was later transported by helicopter to a hospital in Little Rock after suffering a brain aneurysm. Medical imaging revealed evidence of the stabbing, which had occurred eight days earlier. Langston died shortly afterward.

Langston was a native of Prescott and a member of Bluff Springs Baptist Church in Rosston. Aaron was related to the victim through marriage; Langston was the husband of Aaron’s aunt.

Investigators searched a home on Lafayette County Road 44, just northwest of Lewisville, where they located individuals and items believed to be connected to the assault. Aaron later confessed to the stabbing and was initially arrested on a charge of first-degree battery. After Langston’s death, prosecutors upgraded the charge to first-degree murder.

Aaron accepted a negotiated guilty plea, avoiding trial. He was formally incarcerated on February 1, 2018, and is currently housed at the Tucker Unit of the Arkansas Division of Correction. He is currently 46 and his projected earliest release date is January 23, 2037.