Willie Herring escapes death, but will spend life behind bars

YOUNGSTOWN

Willie Herring, a defendant in the April 30, 1996, robbery and triple murder at the Newport Inn, escaped the death penalty, but he received a new sentence that will assure he will never again be a free man.

Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who had given Herring the death sentence the jury recommended in 1998, re-sentenced Herring today to 103 years to life in prison for the crimes he committed at the former South Side bar.

“Your choice was walking in that bar. Once you did, all hell broke loose, and three people did die, and two people still carry the scars of that evening,” Judge Durkin told Herring.

“If there’s any rehabilitation, I’m going to ensure that it occurs for you while in prison,” Judge Durkin added.

Read more about the sentencing and the judge's and family members' remarks, read Friday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.