Celestia Duffin, Pregnant Woman, Stabbed To Death By James Herring, Husband Of One Week

James Herring, right, was arrested on a murder charge Tuesday, May 15, 2012 after his pregnant wife, who had been stabbed in the chest, staggered into the Fort Smith police station and collapsed. Police say officers rushed 32-year-old Celestia Duffin to Fort Smith hospital, where doctors delivered her baby prematurely, but both mother and infant died.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A newlywed was being held on a murder charge Wednesday after his pregnant wife staggered into a western Arkansas police station, her blouse covered in blood from the stab wound in her chest, and collapsed.

Emergency responders rushed Celestia Duffin, who was nearly seven months pregnant, to a local hospital where doctors delivered her baby, though both she and her son died, Fort Smith police spokesman Sgt. Daniel Grubbs said.

Duffin ran to the police station from a nearby traffic accident Tuesday where officers found her husband, James Herring. The couple married a week ago Wednesday, according to court records, but Herring told investigators they were already talking about divorce, Grubbs said.

After talking to investigators, Herring was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and attempted murder. Those charges could change because the baby died after Herring was booked into jail, Grubbs said.

Formal charges are expected later this week.

Herring, 34, was being held without bond in Sebastian County, near the Oklahoma state border. He didn't have an attorney listed in jail records and a message left at a phone number listed for him wasn't returned.

A prosecutor didn't return phone calls either.

Authorities believe that Duffin was driving with her husband when Herring stabbed her and caused her to crash into a utility pole.

The 32-year-old woman managed to run to the nearby police station. Once inside, Duffin – her blouse and stomach covered in blood – said, "Help me," before falling to the floor, according to police reports.

"I radioed dispatch and then went back over to the female subject and could see that she was barely breathing, and was very pale," one officer, Trex Smith, wrote in a report.

He lifted her shirt to find out where she was bleeding and saw a stab wound in her lower chest. He put paper towels on the gash and applied pressure until medics showed up and rushed her to the hospital, where doctors delivered Duffin's son. The baby died before hospital staff could fly him to Little Rock for care.

About the same time Duffin showed up at the police station, someone called police about the accident and found Herring, who "appeared to be in a state of shock," Grubbs said in a statement. Herring wasn't injured and no one else was in the car, Grubbs said.

A man who answered a phone number listed for a relative of Duffin's said her family wasn't ready to talk.

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Comments

[ywcachieve]

11:52 AM on 05/19/2012

This story is so heart-wrenching, it makes me cry.

[Zilvernation]

05:50 AM on 05/19/2012

Why was there a knife in the car in the first place, weird.

[kerao]

01:37 AM on 05/19/2012

This is what I don't get, get angry kill yourself or do something about it. But why kill innocent people along the way. It seems it's on the news quite a bit man kills family then kills himself. How could you look your child in the eyes and kill them? I live over here where that idiot josh powell killed his family. I think the law didn't do anything to protect those children from their idiot Father. He was the prime suspect in his wifes murder and they still gave him child visitation. Absolutely ridiculous.

[amgnme]

11:44 PM on 05/18/2012

When couples start to plan for that special, expensive wedding, they should also budget for his and hers investigations of each other. Then they could find out all about their partners to be, clear up anything that puts up a red flag and then be able to make a decision if they really want to go through with the wedding. It may not sound romantic but neither is domestic abuse and murder of a spouse.

[Cye]

06:00 AM on 05/19/2012

or maybe just not rush down the isle to get married.

[BiggpussJr]

11:13 AM on 05/18/2012

She cant be helped. But for ANY woman/man out there. The world is full of nuts. Nuts dont introduce themselves as nuts. They start off very kind and loving. But nuts can maintain it, soon they may yell, then will come thepushing, before long THE PUNCHES. But you can control it, if ANY VIOLENCE occurs or you feel it about to occur, RUN and dont look back. Nuts will tell you how sorry they are. They will tell you that it wasnt supposed to happen. But IT WILL happen. And it GETS WORSE. For every person that is killed by a spouse it starts somewhere, usually LONG before the act. NIP IT IN THE BUD!!!

[kellyslk]

08:45 PM on 05/17/2012

Great!

I'll definitely be doing a back ground check on the next guy I get serious with!

Scarey stuff!

[Barkley484]

04:03 PM on 05/17/2012

"...her family wasn't ready to talk."

Um...duh? How awful that so many victims' family members have to put up with the harassment of the media during such a horrific time.

[scrapper7]

03:19 PM on 05/17/2012

Here we have it again. Domestic violence has claimed another two lives. I think I can speak for us all, when I search for an explanation as to, "WHY?"

It's arduous for the average mind to delve into another, so lost and twisted. Nearly impossible to comprehend, how does such enormous fury come to the surface at a moment's notice? When did human life become so depreciated? Was Herring consciously aware of Celestia's pregnancy when he stabbed her?

Married only a week, what could possibly have provoked a man to murder? Perhaps, nothing. Then again, maybe he suffers from an undiagnosed mental disorder, i.e. bipolar or schizophrenia? Only James Herring and Celestia Duffin know what transpired in that car and Celestia isn't talking.

As the facts in this case unfold, we'll get answers to some of the questions that perplex us. At trial (barring any plea agreement), Herring will have his Constitutional rights to protect him.

That's much, much more than Celestia and her son had.

[EnSabahNur]

07:49 PM on 05/17/2012

He was previously diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic and had been institutionalized for 45 days back in 2009. He also refused to take his medication.

[mother10]

12:48 AM on 05/18/2012

shut up, no way ! where did you hear that !

[tonync1969]

01:38 PM on 05/17/2012

But don't let the gays get married, straight couples have got it licked!

[mother10]

12:48 AM on 05/18/2012

no chit

[merrybnurse]

12:38 PM on 05/17/2012

This is horrifying.

[sandradel7509]

12:21 PM on 05/17/2012

absolutely ridiculous.

[Milwaukeetj1]

11:47 AM on 05/17/2012

What is going on with people, why did he get that mad?!

[kellyslk]

08:46 PM on 05/17/2012

Toilet seat was down!

[mother10]

12:48 AM on 05/18/2012

nut

[GundamMars]

10:58 AM on 05/17/2012

Why can't some guys learn just to leave? Even if he left her in the middle of the night while she was asleep he wouldn't be in the trouble he's in now and that woman and her son would still be alive. Why do some guys think killing is the best option, only to end up in prison where they'll likely be killed by other inmates who look down on those who kill children.

[wildzfan]

10:15 AM on 05/17/2012

Warning!! Be careful who who shackle yourself to. Know the person more than a few months before deciding he or she is the love of your life. Could be the end of your life.

[mmrdaisley]

05:33 PM on 05/17/2012

He was previously arrested for domestic abuse on her, why she still chose to marry him , and worse get pregnant by him is beyond me.Many women , unfortunatly believe that children will fix or save a relationship , it doesn't.Bringing another person into an already troubled relationship , only makes thing worse.

[Snmartinez]

09:54 AM on 05/17/2012

This is so sad! I can almost imagine the pain and horror of this woman as she ran to the police station looking for help. The baby wasn't even given a chance to live. I hope they find the man and he pays dearly for what he did.

[mother10]

12:50 AM on 05/18/2012

they have him, it was her husband of one week