SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A man who shares a 9-year-old daughter with a woman accused of killing a Vermont social worker says he feels badly for the victim’s family.

Edward Szczebak spoke to the Associated Press on Wednesday in his first public comments since Department for Children and Families worker Lara Sobel was shot to death Aug. 7 in Barre.

His daughter’s mother, Jody Herring, is charged with killing Sobel because she was upset about losing custody of the girl. She pleaded not guilty. Police also believe Herring shot and killed three of her own relatives before killing Sobel.

Szczebak said at his home in Springfield, Massachusetts, that he doesn’t understand why Sobel was killed. He says: “It’s like a soap opera.”

Szczebak declined to talk about his family.