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- A woman who coughed on a brain tumor patient at a store last year was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
- Debra Hunter coughed on Heather Sprague at Pier 1 location in Jacksonville, Florida.
- In addition to her sentence, Hunter must serve six-month probation and reimburse Sprague for her COVID-19 test.
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A Florida woman who was captured in a viral video coughing on a stranger was sentenced to 30 days behind bars Thursday.
The incident took place last June at a Pier 1 store in Jacksonville, Florida. Hunter, who was charged with assault, coughed on Heather Sprague after she began recording her during a heated exchange with store employees, as Insider's Rachel E. Greenspan previously reported.
"She 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," Sprague wrote in her Facebook caption about the confrontation. "The staff were professional and respectful. But they couldn't return an item she didn't actually have with her."
In the video, when Hunter realized Sprague, who was getting treatment for a brain tumor, was filming, she coughed on her, then exited the store.
"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," Sprague told the judge, The Guardian reported. The report said the COVID-19 tests for Sprague and her family members came back negative.
-Haley Harrison (@HaleyHarrisonTV) April 8, 2021
According to the Guardian, in addition to her sentence, Hunter has to reimburse Sprague's COVID-19 test and pay a $500 fine. First Coast News reported she also has to serve six-month probation and participate in anger management class and a mental health evaluation.