‘Infuriated’ woman who coughed on cancer patient at Florida Pier 1 may face jail time
A Florida woman who was arrested in a disturbing incident at a Jacksonsville Pier 1 store in the height of the pandemic is finally getting sentenced.
Debra Jo Hunter, of Fernandina Beach, pleaded guilty in front of Duval County Judge James Ruth on Monday, News4Jax first reported.
The New Jersey native, 53, was arrested July 22 and charged with misdemeanor assault after a video of her coughing on a cancer patient went viral.
The victim, Heather Sprague, said in her post that she started filming Hunter on June 25 because the fellow shopper was arguing — maskless — with a cashier at Pier 1 at Jacksonville’s St. John’s Town Center.
Sprague reported that the agitated woman was “screaming at, swearing, insulting, and threatening the staff as she demanded to return an item she didn’t have with her, just a photo of the item on her phone.”
In the video you can see Hunter spot Sprague filming with her phone, then approach and give her the finger with both hands. Before storming away with her two kids, Hunter says, “I think I”ll get real close to you. How about that?” before coughing violently in her face.
A few days after the incident, Sprague, a mother of 10, filed a police report. Hunter was arrested July 22 on a misdemeanor assault charge. The New Jersey native, 53, was released on $753 bond and released the same day.
Seven months later, the wheels of justice are finally moving; a sentencing hearing is set for April 4.
News4Jax reports that Hunter will be calling on witnesses to testify on her behalf. The defendant faces up to 60 days in jail and a fine of $500.
In a three-page letter to the judge, Hunter says she is now a social pariah and her life was destroyed due to the hate she’s received since the incident.
Her kids have also received threats, and are “embarrassed, chastised and mocked by both their peers as well as adults. Each of my three children have lost nearly every friend they had.”
Her excuse for coughing on a person without a mask during a pandemic, Hunter told the judge, was that she didn’t want Sprague filming her with her kids.
“Admittedly, I was immediately infuriated and demanded this customer to stop filming my kids [ages 7, 11 and 16]. In the heat of the moment, I overreacted in an over-protective manner which ultimately led to my retaliation on this stranger, the victim,” Hunter’s letter said. “And that highly regrettable, split second, knee jerk reaction has cost my family dearly.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 2:45 PM.
