Police: Mom killed social worker after custody dispute

BARRE, Vt. — A mom who lost custody of her 9-year-old girl less than a month ago used a high-caliber hunting rifle to kill the social worker involved in her case as the state employee left the office for the day, authorities said.

Witnesses tackled Jody Herring at about 4:45 p.m. ET Friday outside of a downtown office building that houses a Vermont Department for Children and Families office, Barre police Chief Tim Bombardier said late Friday. They had seen her take two shots at close range at Lara Sobel, who had worked for the agency more than 15 years.

Sobel died at the scene.

Herring, who is now in state custody, lost custody of her daughter July 10, Bombardier said. The child remains in state care; Herring will be arraigned Monday.

"We're doing the best we can to support our staff," agency Commissioner Ken Schatz said. "Any sort of death is a tragedy. In this situation we lost one of our own."

The ages and hometowns of both women weren't immediately available; Sobel was married and had a daughter.

Washington County's state's attorney, Scott Williams, was among the witnesses, so the Vermont Attorney General's Office is expected to handle the prosecution. The child welfare agency's offices in a four-story building are a few hundred yards from the courthouse.

Barre is a city of about 10,000 residents less than 10 miles from the state capital of Montpelier.

"I am beside myself," said state Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell, a Democrat from Windsor, Vt. "These men and women put their lives on the line each day, and we don't understand the serious nature of these cases.

"This could happen in any state office or court," said Campbell, who is also a state prosecutor. "We do not pay them enough and respect them enough."

Sobel made a little more than $50,000 in 2012 as a state social worker, according to an online database of state employee salaries.

After the deaths last year of two toddlers who had been involved with the agency, a special legislative committee was set up to investigate the state's child welfare system. Murder charges are pending against the stepfather of 2-year-old Dezirae Sheldon of Poultney and the mother of 15-month-old Peighton Geraw of Winooski, both of whom have pleaded not guilty.

As a result, lawmakers passed a new child-safety law that shifts the state's priority in protecting children, focusing on their well-being instead of on an imperative to reunite them with their families.

The social workers often go into some of the worst homes without protection from law enforcement, Campbell said.

"These are on the front line dealing with people with substance abuse and mental health issues," he said. "They are priest, psychologist and cop all in one."

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin immediately directed staff of the Department for Children and Families who have to go out on emergency calls this weekend to be accompanied by police officers.

Investigators were checking to see if Herring and Sobel knew each other besides the July 10 case, Bombardier said.

"The employees at DCF deal with the most challenging family situations that one can imagine," Shumlin said in a statement. "They do the work out of their dedication to the children and families of this great state. To lose one of our own in the course of that duty is shocking and heartbreaking."

Contributing: The Associated Press