Maskless Florida woman jailed for intentionally coughing on cancer patient in Pier 1
Almost one year ago as the COVID-19 coronavirus had already reached global pandemic proportions, a Florida woman was recorded on video in a Florida shopping mall purposefully coughing on a cancer patient in a Jacksonville Pier 1 store. Last Thursday in a Jacksonville courtroom, that coughing woman, Debra Hunter, was sentenced by Duval County Court Judge James Ruth to serve 30 days behind bars.
Hunter was also ordered to pay a $500 fine, serve six months’ probation and undergo a mental health evaluation along with anger management counseling, according to The Miami Herald. Hunter will be receiving credit for the one day she already spent in the slammer, reducing her jail time to a measly 29 days.
The video of Hunter intentionally coughing on cancer patient Heather Sprague last summer while she was embroiled in an argument with employees at the Pier 1 store resulted in Hunter being arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge.
According to investigators, the victim, Heather Sprague, had begun recording Hunter’s heated encounter with the employees. Hunter saw her and made a rude gesture before walking up and saying she would cough on her. And then she coughed on her, an arrest affidavit said.
Sprague, who is being treated for a brain tumor, told the judge she spent days anxiously searching for a place where she and her family could be tested for the coronavirus. ~ NBC News
The only good thing to come of Hunter’s coughing assault is that Sprague, a mother of 10, ended up testing negative for the virus. Sprague said that when Hunter coughed on her, she ended up with Hunter’s spit on her face, which, “left her worried about her health and that of her family at a time when coronavirus tests were difficult to obtain,” according to The Washington Post. Also of great concern to Sprague was that several of her adopted children also had health problems and suffered from weak immune systems.
After watching the now viral video of the coughing incident, the judge admonished Hunter in court saying, “Your behavior in the presence of the children is reason for me to believe that was not the only episode the children had witnessed also or had been exposed.” The judge also told the non-apologetic Hunter that she seemed to be more concerned over the fact she and her family had lost some friends due to the coughing incident and she was less concerned about potentially causing major health problems for her victim and her family.
Hunter is scheduled to begin serving her jail sentence on April 19.
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
