Jody Herring, a 42-year-old mother, pled guilty to quadruple homicide in the death of social worker, her two cousins and her aunt 2 years ago
Herring pled guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her 73-year-old aunt, Julie Falzarano
Herring then killed Falzarano’s daughters, Rhonda Herring, 43, and 48-year-old Regina Herring
She also copped to first-degree murder in shooting social worker Lara Sobel, 48, as she walked from her office to her car on August 7, 2015
The suspect killed all four women in the towns of Berlin and Barre in Vermont in August 2015
She lost custody of her nine-year-old daughter a month earlier and blamed them
She believed her cousins and aunt reported her to social services and thought Sobel was the social worker who took the child out of her care
Herring, who showed no emotion as she made her plea on Thursday
Faces life behind bars at sentencing
Jody Herring [right], showed no remorse as she entered her plea on Thursday. It came almost two years after the heinous crimes
A 42-year-old mother has pleaded guilty to murdering a social worker, her aunt and her two cousins on who she blamed for losing custody of her nine-year-old daughter.
Jody Herring was emotionless on Thursday as she accepted a plea deal with prosecutors in Vermont over the 2015 killings.
She admitted one count of first degree murder for shooting social worker Lara Sobel as she walked from her office to her car on August 7, 2015.
Herring also pleaded guilty to three counts of second degree murder for the deaths of her cousins, Rhonda and Regina Herring, and her aunt 73-year-old Julie Falzarano.
Herring now faces life imprisonment. She will be sentenced at a later date.
On August 7, Herring shot 48-year-old Sobel twice with a hunting rifle outside The Department for Children and Families in Barre, Vermont, but was then tackled to the ground by by-standers, before she could escape.
She was arrested on the spot.
The next day, police found the bodies of 43-year-old Regina and 48-year-old Ronda Herring at a home in the nearby town of Berlin. Their elderly mother had also been slaughtered.
Herring lost custody of her nine-year-old daughter a month before the killing rampage. The little girl remains in the custody of the state.
She initially pleaded not guilty to all of the murder charges and was due to face trial in August.
Herring who laughed and made joked as she was arrested for killing Lara Sobel, still didn’t seem to care about her actions, Thursday. She faces a life time behind bars at sentencing
The hunting rifle Jody Herring used for the murders
Jody Herring, then 40 had a drinking problem as she was arrested in June of 2015 on suspicion of second-offense drunken driving.
Records from the Vermont State Police show Herring, of South Barre had a blood-alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit for driving when she was detained June 23 in Rockingham and later released on a citation.
Jody Herring also killed her aunt Julie Falzarano, 73, [left], and her daughters 43-year-old Rhonda [center], and 48-year-old Regina Herring [right]. The killer believed they reported her to social services as an unfit mother
Court documents in the DUI case stated that Herring was “an intravenous heroin user.” She has one drug conviction on her record, a case from 2003 that resulted in a suspended sentence and probation for misdemeanor heroin possession.
She has 11 misdemeanor convictions dating to 1994, including drunken driving, fraud and a domestic-assault case that eventually was amended to disorderly conduct, records show.
During the last drunk driving arrest, Herring told the police she had one tequila drink more than two hours earlier at a club in Connecticut. She also said she was taking the attention-deficit-disorder drug Ritalin and had been the victim of a domestic assault the previous October in which she was strangled.
Herring confers with her defense team in court on Thursday
Court papers from 2015 revealed how Herring laughed and made jokes with police officers as they arrested her immediately after Sobel’s death.
She had blood stains on her clothes but was otherwise unaffected by the killing.
Sobel was survived by her husband and two daughters. Colleagues described her as a fierce advocate for children.
Details surrounding her role in Herring’s custody woes are vague. It is not clear what prompted her to recommend the child be taken out of care or if it was entirely her decision.
Herring has previous convictions for offences including domestic violence.
On Thursday, relatives of her victims wept in the public gallery as the murderess calmly answered the judge’s questions.
Court records indicate that before she turned to killing Jody Herring [photo], was “an intravenous heroin user” with a long list of priors. She also had a severe drinking problem
you don’t know that she is a sociopath. She may have had a psychotic moment. just saying.