The Florida woman who went viral after intentionally coughing on a customer at a Pier 1 store at the beginning of the pandemic has been sentenced to 30 days in jail.
In additon to her jail time, a judge ordered Debra Hunter to pay a $500 fine, serve six months probation, undergo a mental health evalutation and anger management, said David Chapman, the communications director for the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville, according to NBC News.
Hunter was also ordered to cover the costs of the victim’s ">COVID-19 test.
The incident caused Heather Sprague, who is being treated for a brain tumor, and her family to desperately search for a place to get tested for coronavirus. Luckily, all tests were negative.
Back in June 2020, Hunter was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault after she was videotaped deliberately coughing on Sprague inside the store.
In an apparent move to find some sort of justification for his wife's behavior, Hunter's husband said their family had experienced many hardships prior to the incident.
“It was like air being inflated into a balloon, and it finally got to the point where she couldn’t handle any more air,” Hunter’s husband said in court. “And then she finally rubbed up against something and just popped."
Hunter also detailed the problems her actions have caused her children and how her family avoids being seen in their community.
“I watch as my kids lower their heads and turn the opposite direction, so they won’t be recognized or approached,” she told the judge. “And I know exactly what they’re feeling because I do the same thing.“
Duval County Court Judge James Ruth said he was shocked that Hunter focused less on how her actions impacted the victim, but more on how they affected herself and her family.
“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,” Judge Ruth said.
Sprague described her reaction after being coughed on and said she reported the incident because she wanted Hunter to be held accountable for her actions.
“I was stunned in the moment, and increasingly fearful in the aftermath," she said, according to First Coast News. “I worried for the health and safety of my children, and wondered how in the world I could possibly isolate to protect them – in a household of 12 – if I had been intentionally infected.”
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