Florida Woman Jailed For Coughing on Cancer Patient Amid Covid-19 Pandemic

Florida Shopper Jailed For Coughing on Cancer Patient Amid Pandemic.

A woman, who had intentionally coughed on and threatened a shopper in Florida has been jailed for 30 days, according to reports. Debra Hunter, 53, can be seen becoming aggressive with some store employees before she turns toward the cancer patient and coughs on the video that went viral last year. "I think I'll get really close to you and cough on you then," Hunter says in the video while making an obscene gesture.

Hunter has admitted that she intentionally committed the crime for which she will now have to serve a 30-day jail term. The judgment comes almost a year after the dispute at a mall in Florida. Duval County court judge James Ruth declared the judgment against Debra Hunter, who will also have to pay a fine of $500, serve six months probation and participate in a mental health evaluation along with anger management, according to the AP reports.

Hunter was arrested a month after the video went viral in July last year. The video showcased her outrage on a cancer patient Heather Sprague, who recorded the scenario with her mobile phone. The victim who has a brain tumor told the judge that being coughed on her made her fear full of contacting the novel Coronavirus, however, the mother of 10 later tested negative for covid-19.

Florida Woman Jailed For Coughing on Cancer Patient
Florida woman jailed for 30 days Web Screen grab

Hunter, who is a Fernandina Beach resident, wrote a three-page letter to the judge saying that her daughter was alarmed when she noticed a stranger recording the three of them with her phone. She admits that she was immediately infuriated and demanded this customer stop filming her kids. But in the heat of the moment, she had overreacted in an overprotective manner which ultimately led to her retaliation on the victim. She also said that the highly regrettable split-second major reaction has caused her family dearly.

Click on this link to watch the Viral Video

"I often wonder what it would be like if every one of us as the flood human beings we are had their worst moments reduced to a short video for all the world to see and judge," Hunter wrote concluding her letter, according to reports.

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