[9/14/04]A 20-year-old son was jailed Monday night, accused of murder in the death of his 38-year-old father.

Authorities said Mark Herrington died after a fight with his son, Alexander Lee Herrington. Both resided at 200 Cain Ridge Road, but the altercation took place at a mutual friend’s house on West Drive, authorities said.

“There was a verbal confrontation in the front yard that turned physical, during which time it is believed that Mark Herrington hit Alex with a slapjack,” Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said. “Friends that were on the scene broke the two up.”

A slapjack is a handheld weapon that usually consists of a lead weight sewed between strips of leather.

“Mark walked to the driver’s side of his truck, apparently getting ready to leave, when, witnesses reported, Alex charged around the truck and stabbed his father once in the throat,” Pace said.

Pace said the witnesses immediately loaded Mark Herrington in the back of his pickup, called authorities, performed CPR and began driving to River Region Medical Center.

They met paramedics at the Super Junior at Fisher Ferry and Nailor Roads and Herrington was then taken to the hospital by ambulance. He was pronounced dead at 8:25 p.m. by Warren County Coroner John Thomason.

Thomason said the cause of death was from the stab wound, and an autopsy would likely be tonight at Mississippi Mortuary Services in Pearl. Fisher Funeral Home will have charge of arrangements.

Alex Herrington was treated and released from River Region and was in the Warren County Jail after his arrest by deputies at the hospital. His bond had not been set.

At the scene, buddies of the elder Herrington cried as they looked at the blood-splattered blue Chevrolet pickup.

“I owe him my life,” said Charles Irons, a friend since 1992. “He loved boating in the river and racing cars. We’d just left his shop.”

The back window showed Herrington’s affection for the sport as it was nearly covered in NASCAR stickers.

Irons was with Herrington when the argument erupted, but said he did not see or know that the younger Herrington had a weapon.

Mark Herrington had been employed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Irons said. Other witnesses would not give their names.

Pace said the argument stemmed from domestic problems between Mark Herrington and his wife.

Herrington’s death was the third by homicide in Warren County this year.

The first, on July 9, left Christopher Cage, 44, 727 Adams St., Apt. 1, dead after he was robbed and shot multiple times at Fayette and Cherry streets. Police have charged Zachary Connor, 19, 127 Bazinsky Road, Apartment 210, with capital murder. He is in the Warren County Jail without bond.

The second, on Aug. 2, left Danny Woodland, 32, 1807 Main St., dead after a shootout at the Hill Top Lounge on Washington Street.

Reginald Rogers, 27, 2404 Railroad Alley, is charged with murder and is in the Warren County Jail without bond.