Social Workers Hold Vigil in Honor of Slain Colleague

Social workers and investigators with the Massachusetts child welfare agency are planning a vigil in memory of a slain colleague from Vermont.

The vigil is planned for 5 p.m. Tuesday outside the Greenfield office of the state Department of Children and Families.

It is being held in honor of Lara Sobel, a veteran child protection worker allegedly shot and killed last week by a client upset about losing custody of her 9-year-old daughter.

Massachusetts social workers say Sobel's death "bears an uncomfortable resemblance" to the 1996 killing of Linda Silva, a Massachusetts state social worker shot by a client against whom Silva had supported a child abuse charge.

The suspect in Sobel's death is being held without bail after pleading not guilty.