LAFAYETTE (AP) — A woman who had called police tosay her ex-boyfriend was threatening her was shot and killed three hours laterin the hotel lobby where she worked as a desk clerk.
Jennifer Herring,30, of Scott, died at a hospital early Wednesday afternoon after a man walkedinto the lobby of the Microtel Inn and Suites and shot her repeatedly.
Police aresearching for Francis Vallery Jr., 31, of Crowley, in connection with theshooting.
Herring hadcalled police around 10 a.m. because she said Vallery, her ex-boyfriend, hadbeen threatening her over the phone. Cpl. Mark Francis of the Lafayette PoliceDepartment said police went to the hotel after the call. Since no crime hadbeen committed, they could do nothing more than suggest she go to a saferplace, he said. The shooting didn’t happen until 1 p.m.
The couple,who had been together for six years, had two children together.
Vallery hadbeen living at his mother’s Crowley home for the past six months, familymembers said, as he tried to reconcile with Herring. Meridian Vallery said thatwhen she left this morning to go to a hospital where a sister was havingsurgery, her son was at home.
“I woke upthis morning not thinking that by this afternoon something like this could havehappened,” Meridian Vallery said.
Familymembers described Francis Vallery Jr. as a good, nice clean-cut kid.
“I neverthought he could do something like that,” his father, Francis Vallery Sr.,said.
Police werenot able to say Wednesday whether Vallery had a criminal history or if Herringhad taken out a restraining order.
Guests andemployees were being questioned, Francis said. Police tape cordoned off theentire parking lot of the hotel, and although guests were allowed to leave,police strongly encouraged them to stay put until all evidence had beengathered, Francis said.
The hotel’smanager, Lisa Coleman, said employees were in shock.
“JenniferHerring was one of the first employees when we opened Microtel five years ago,”Coleman said. “She served our customers from the front desk with a bright smileand friendly attitude that everyone recognized and appreciated.”