A Florida woman who intentionally coughed on a brain cancer patient at a ‘Pier One Imports’ has been sentenced, the Miami Herald reports.
Video of the incident shows Jacksonville resident Debra Hunter, visibly maskless, attempting to return an item she didn’t have in her possession before getting into an altercation with the victim, Heather Reed Sprague. Hunter approached Sprague and said, “I think I’ll get real close to you. How about that?” Hunter then coughed in Sprague’s face.
“On Thursday, Duval County Court Judge James Ruth sentenced Debra Hunter to serve 30 days in jail, pay a $500 fine, serve six months’ probation and undergo a mental health evaluation along with anger management, The Associated Press reports,” wrote Madeleine Marr. “The defendant received credit for one day already served. David Chapman, communications director for the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville, told the media outlet in an email that Hunter was also ordered to cover the costs of the victim’s COVID-19 test.”
Hunter has apologized and claimed her family are now “social pariahs” after the incident. The judge, however, was not buying it.
“Her children didn’t create this problem and her husband didn’t, and she talked about how it changed her world and she was getting nastygrams on Facebook and things of that nature and they can’t go to their country club or wherever,” said Judge Ruth. “But I have yet to see any expression or a significant expression on her regret about the impact it had on the victim in this case.”
Watch the video below:
