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Ouachita County in south-central Arkansas holds the sleepy, bucolic town of Camden, about 80 miles east of Texarkana and 110 miles northeast of Shreveport, Louisiana. It is here, in a place where just about everybody knows everyone, that the mysterious 2015 death of Matt Jacobs haunts its townspeople, a case featured in the new Oxygen original two-hour special, Southern Fried Lies.
Jacobs, 34, was well known as the town’s richest man, having earned a sizable settlement following his near-death experience in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig explosion of 2010. According to the special’s official description, it is following Jacobs’ unfathomable passing that a “secret mistress and other inexplicable deaths” come to light, and at the center of the action is Camden woman Donna Herring.
Here’s what we know.
Who is Donna Herring?
Donna Herring is the southern, wisecracking matriarch featured in Southern Fried Lies.
Known for being Camden’s most successful realtor, she is also the “proud pageant mom” to daughter Alex Peterson. Herring once believed Jacobs — as Camden’s wealthiest and most eligible bachelor — was the perfect match for her daughter. However, a major rift occurred after Jacobs’ untimely death, particularly over the head-scratching allocation of his assets and multi-million-dollar fortune.
In Southern Friend Lies, Herring set out to speak her truth with often laugh-out-loud delivery.
“Are we gonna get an Oscar? That’s what I wanna know,” she asked producers. “Y’all don’t make me look like no hick!”
Herring and others close to the possible murder mystery participated in the Oxygen special as investigators tried to solve what really happened to Jacobs. What they uncovered were the stranger-than-fiction secrets deep in the hearts of those living deep in the South.
And some secrets (and bodies) would not stay buried for long, as teased in the trailer.
“I was prepared to go,” Herring matter-of-factly told cameras. “Let’s go.”
Donna Herring tells all in Southern Fried Lies
Donna Herring’s mix of Southern charm and brash personality was paramount in Southern Fried Lies, as two families go to war in light of Jacobs’ mysterious death. Audiences must discern whether Herring’s larger-than-life version of the truth can be taken at face value.
And will her account stand the tests of credibility as the body count in Camden continues to rise?
“They just tried to put this whole spin on it that we had done something sinister,” Herring warns viewers of locals. “But remember, everything comes with a price tag.”
Audiences would be wise to hear Herring’s take on Matt Jacobs’ “strange” death. Her seemingly all-knowing ways and deep connections within the community are why many in her hometown cite her as the “unofficial mayor” of Camden, Arkansas.
She’ll also share her honest-to-God opinion on some of the whispers that plague the place she calls home.
“You’ll find out as you go through south Arkansas, there’s a lot of D.S.D. — dog s–t dumb, and it’s rampant,” she told Southern Fried Lies audiences. “And that’s just my opinion. Everybody, don’t be sending me hate mail.”
Herring at the center of a twisted story
In spite of the captivating way Herring tells things, those involved in Southern Fried Lies believe she can’t be trusted.
For example, Matt Jacobs’ son, Jordan, shared his alternate views of Herring and her daughter.
“Are we f–king playing mind games?” Jordan rhetorically asked. “Or are we sending some people to f–king jail?”
Donna Herring may hold the answers.
Don’t miss the two-hour Oxygen special Southern Fried Lies, premiering Sunday, April 27, 2025, at 6 p.m. ET/PT on Oxygen, and available to stream Tuesday, April 29 on Peacock.
