Suspect in Vermont social worker's slaying due in court
BARRE, Vt. - The Vermont woman who police say shot and killed a social worker because she was upset about losing custody of her 9-year-old daughter is scheduled to make her first court appearance.
Jody Herring has been held without bail since shortly after her arrest Friday following the death of Lara Sobel who police say was shot twice in the head as she came of the Barre office building that houses the regional office of the state Department for Children and Families.
Police also believe that before shooting the 48-year-old Sobel, Herring shot and killed two cousins and an aunt in the neighboring town of Berlin. But no charges have been filed in connection with the deaths of Regina Herring, 43, and Rhonda Herring, 48, the suspect's cousins; and Julianne Falzarano, 73, an aunt.
Herring, 40, is to appear in Vermont Superior Court in Barre on Monday afternoon to answer a first-degree murder charge in Sobel's death.
On Sunday, about 300 people packed into Barre's Old Labor Hall to pay tribute to Sobel before marching to the parking lot where she was shot.
"Lara was a beautiful, beautiful individual and she really, really cared about the kids, all the kids," Joseph Faryniarz, a cousin of Sobel's husband, said during the vigil. "This is a tragedy and the family is doing the best that it can."
Jill Remick, a state Agency of Education employee who works in the same city building where Sobel died, called DCF employees "heroes" at the service, reports the Burlington Free Press.
"You are literally on the front lines ... and we will never forget what you do," Remick said, reports the paper. "We honor what you do. I don't know how you'll come into the building again, but when you do, we will be there."
Police say Herring shot the 14-year DCF veteran before she was tackled by bystanders.
The Burlington Free Press reported that Tiffany Herring, 23, who identified herself as the daughter of one of the victims, said her mother received a threatening phone call from Jody Herring on Friday morning.
"My mother got a call in the morning, maybe 7:30 or 8 o'clock, saying it was Jody Herring saying, 'You guys need to stop calling DCF unless you guys are going to have it coming to you,'" Tiffany Herring told the newspaper.
She said she discovered the women's bodies.
"Both doors were wide open, and I walked into the living room, and that's where I saw my mom dead," she said.
Barre Police Chief Tim Bombardier said the weapon used to kill Sobel was a hunting rifle, but he would not reveal the caliber or additional details. He also would not comment on whether Jody Herring had obtained the gun legitimately or what may have triggered her to act Friday - weeks after losing custody of her daughter.
"That's one of those things that's open to interpretation, so I'm going to stay away from it," Bombardier told The Associated Press.
He also would not discuss the 9-year-old's father or his whereabouts. Officials said after Sobel's shooting that the girl remained in state custody.
On Sunday, the governor's office distributed a statement to state employees saying all offices would be open on Monday, but state officials were reviewing security at state buildings.
Paul Coates, a lifelong Montpelier resident, said before the vigil that he knew Sobel, the other shooting victims and the woman accused in the shooting.
"It's just tragic; it's just sad. I am sick about it, it just didn't need to happen," Coates said.
Cindy Walcott, DCF deputy commissioner, said that over the weekend, she has been thinking there would be no way to go forward, but she found support from the people she and the other social workers have helped overcome obstacles.
"In my darkest moments I actually have focused on the children and families that we serve and I think about the dark moments that they've had in their lives and how so many of those have triumphed over those (situations) and learned from them and moved forward," Walcott said.