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Judge denies accused killer's request to withdraw plea in Sanford mother, child deaths

By Kelly Healey
By Kelly Healey
A Seminole County man accused of shooting six people and killing a mother and her son was in court Friday at his request. Allen Cashe asked the judge to withdraw his initial plea.
However, the judge ruled that Cashe could not withdraw his plea of no contest, which he made to avoid the death penalty.
Cashe pleaded no contest in the deaths of Latina Herring and her son in 2017, and the shooting of four other people in Sanford. Prosecutors said Cashe shot the six victims over a set of keys.

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Cashe took the stand to explain why he wanted to withdraw his plea, saying his attorneys were ineffective.
"I didn't feel comfortable going to trial with different lawyers that had most of my representation at trial and it didn't seem like he was representing me fairly," Cashe said.
Cashe also said he wasn’t given all the evidence against him, which is a claim his public defender, Jeff Dowdy, denied. 
Dowdy testified that Cashe never indicated to him that he wanted to withdraw his plea and explained to him that he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
"We all informed him parole was not an option," Dowdy said.
Prosecutors said he was not coerced into taking the plea deal or his sentence and pointed out court transcripts as proof.
The judge denied Cashe’s request and said he was aware of Cashe's concerns, and that he believed all issues were taken care of before accepting the deal.

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"All of this that you are trying to raise with me has no merit whatsoever. There is no manifest in judgment. There is no injustice," the judge said.
Cashe's attorney told Channel 9 that it did not appear to be the end of the matter. She believes Cashe plans to appeal. 
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