A maskless customer in a Florida Pier 1 store who coughed at another customer last June was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail.
Debra Hunter, who entered the store without wearing a mask, clashed with an unidentified customer when she noticed that the exchange was being recorded by a third customer, Heather Sprague.
“Do you really need this? What do you want to do, post it for you?” Hunter can be heard saying in the video. “I think I’ll get real close to you and cough on you. How about that?”
Hunter then walked toward Sprague and intentionally coughed in her direction, ultimately resulting in Judge James A. Ruth convicting her with second-degree assault.
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In his justification on Thursday, the judge explained the incident happened at the then-peak of the coronavirus pandemic in the state of Florida and Hunter’s action could have had “deadly consequences” for Sprague — who was still receiving post-surgery care after she had a brain tumor removed.
Both Hunter and Sprague had their children with them at the time of the incident, another factor that contributed to the sentence.
Sprague told the judge that her adopted children suffer from weak immune systems and are uniquely vulnerable to infection transmissions.
Conversely, Hunter testified that the incident left her and her family “permanently scarred” as the video went viral and has resulted in people treating her family differently.
Speaking of her eldest son, she said: “He was shunned by his classmates, who would boldly ask him and purposefully in the midst of a small crowd, if his mother was that lady in the video.”
“It was like he was the son of the woman who wore the Scarlet Letter,” Hunter continued.
“I often wonder what it would be like if every one of us, as the flawed human beings we are, had their worst moments reduced to a short video for all the world to see and judge,” she added. “The hardest part is that video shows me in the worst possible light on my worst possible day.”
Ruth said Hunter did not exhibit remorse for her action or show concern for how her actions could have affected Sprague or her children.
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“I didn’t hear much about your client’s concern for the actual victim in this case,” the judge said, addressing Hunter’s attorney. “I haven’t heard about the potential deadly impact this could have had on all of them [Sprague’s family], not only because of COVID, but someone who has cancer and a compromised immune system.”
Hunter will have to serve 30 days in jail, followed by 6-month probation, an anger management course, and a $500 fine.
