PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — The parents of a man charged with killing a corrections officer in Umatilla County say they tried to help their son get his life on track but he had recently been on a downward spiral.
Jeni Neth of Pendleton tells the East Oregonian (http://bit.ly/uBh26v) that her son used methamphetamine and she’s sorry for the hurt that he’s caused. Authorities say 22-year-old Joshua Weeks confessed to fatally stabbing Buddy Herron, a corrections officer and volunteer firefighter. Police say Herron stopped to help Weeks at a highway crash scene on Monday.
Neth says she lost contact with her son for 14 years and he was raised for some of that time in foster care.
Weeks’ father, Charles Weeks of Nampa, Idaho, tells the newspaper that Weeks could be kindhearted, helpful and emotional.
