woman in florida, sentenced 30 days in jail due to cough assault

  Debra Jo Hunter, 52, is sentenced to jail for 30 days of jail and a fine of $500. She coughed inside a Pier 1 store in the midst of the Pandemic. She also had been charged to cover the costs of the victim's Covid-19 test.

   

     The victim was Heather Sprague, who had started recording before the encounter, when Hunter was storming and insulting the employees over an item which she wanted to return but didn't have with her. Hunter saw her recording, and suddenly gave Heather a double flip and told Heather that she was going to cough on her, which she did. Sprague then had to find a place for her and her family to stay until she had taken her Covid-19 test. fortunately, the results were negative.

    To the judge, Hunter's husband told him that they were facing multiplex hardships, which included losing everything in their house on fire.

    'it was like air being inflated into a ballloon, 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.'

    Finally, Hunter told the judge that their family had paid the price for her mistake; she and her children continued to lose friends, and they didn't spend time out in the community anymore. '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.'

    and to Sprague, a brain tumor patient, the incident had made her fearful. '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,' she said.

    The judge then sentenced Hunter on a 30 dayin jail and was fined $500