In the quiet state of Vermont, the summer of 2015 was shattered by a string of brutal acts that left a family and a community reeling. On August 7th, 73-year-old Caucasian female Julie Ann Falzarano was tragically killed in her Berlin home. She was not alone in her final moments; her two daughters, Regina and Rhonda Herring, died alongside her. The cause of their deaths was determined to be rifle fire.
The violence of that day was not confined to the Falzarano-Herring home.
In the nearby city of Barre, a social worker for the Vermont Department for Children and Families, Lara Sobel, was shot and killed as she left her workplace. The investigation into these seemingly separate acts of violence quickly revealed a dark and interconnected story. The woman suspected of all four killings was Jody Herring, a relative of Julie Ann Falzarano and her daughters.
Authorities believe that Jody Herring's deadly rampage was fueled by a devastating event in her own life. The day before the shootings, she had lost custody of her 9-year-old daughter. It is this loss that is thought to have been the catalyst for the tragic events that followed. After shooting Lara Sobel, Herring was reportedly tackled by bystanders at the scene and taken into custody. Described as being "calm and laughing" after the slaying of the social worker, she was later charged in connection with all four deaths. The small state of Vermont was left to grapple with the profound loss of four innocent lives, a tragedy born from a mother's despair.
