Lawyer 'slipped abortion pills to soon-to-be ex's drink to try and kill baby'
A Texas attorney who admitted sneaking an abortion-inducing drug into his soon-to-be ex-wife's drinks when he found out she was pregnant has been jailed for fewer than six months.
Mason Herring was sentenced to only 180 days in prison by Harris County District Court Judge Andrea Ball on Wednesday. He will also have to spend 10 years on probation after he admitted to spiking his wife Catherine Herring.
The 39-year-old admitted one charge of assault to a pregnant person and one count of injury to a child under the age of 15. In exchange for the admission of guilt, a charge of forcing an individual to have an abortion was dropped by the district attorney.
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Herring was jailed for fewer than six months after being charged with multiple counts of assault (ABC 7)Addressing her husband at his sentencing hearing, Mrs Herring gave a powerful statement. She said: “I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times. For two years, my husband has overly denied this assault, and I’m grateful today that he has finally admitted to his guilt.”
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The victim outlined to the court how her husband's actions led to her giving birth to her daughter 10 weeks premature, with the newborn spending her first few months eating through a feeding tube. She also said that Mason Herring had financially cut off her and the three children they share since the incident.
In April, 2022, a police report was filed by Mrs Herring about her husband "surreptitiously slipping abortion pills into her beverages". The pair had been separated for approximately two weeks at the time and were in the middle of couples counseling at the beginning of March 2022. This is when Mrs Herring revealed to her husband she was pregnant again.
At the time, her husband was apparently in a romantic relationship with a female subordinate from his workplace at the time and had a bad reaction to the news. He's believed to have told his wife any pregnancy would "ruin his plans", court documents revealed. At the request of their couple's councillor, the pair spent spring together with their children in Texas. However, this is when Mr Herring apparently began fixating on her hydration and told her she needed to drink more water.
An affidavit about the case said: "Catherine Herring stated that Mason Herring presented the cup of water and told her that she needed to drink more and that he would not leave until she drank the whole cup. Catherine Herring stated that she drank out of the cup and stopped to take a breath, noticing that the water inside the cup appeared to be cloudy.
Catherine Herring was left with severe diarrhea and bleeding after being given the drugs (ABC 7)"Catherine Herring stated that she questioned [Mason Herring] about this and he stated that perhaps the cup was dirty or the pipes were dirty. Catherine Herring stated that Mr Herring then took the cup and left.”
Catherine Herring told investigators that approximately 30 minutes later she became violently ill with diarrhea, even soiling herself before she could make it to the bathroom. It was after this she started to suspect something was placed in her drink, specifically an abortion drug. The affidavit continued: “Catherine Herring stated that she had two more bouts of diarrhea and on the final time, she discovered that she was bleeding. Catherine Herring stated that it was a large amount of blood, much like having her period.”
The 39-year-old slipped his partner a Mexican version of an American drug to make her ill (PLAN C/AFP via Getty Images)One of the next times she was given a beverage by her husband, instead of drinking it she kept the liquid to be checked. Suspicions continued to rise when Mr Herring was seen on video clearing out his car. This was out of character for him, his wife has claimed, and after searching the trash Mrs Herring found something called Cyrux, which is a Mexican pharmacy version of the American drug Cytotec and the main ingredient of which is Misoprostol, a drug that is used to cause abortion.
An OB-GYN allegedly told investigators that Misoprostol could be used to terminate a pregnancy, but can also cause heart, liver, and renal necrosis, saying that “giving someone the drug in an unknown amount is an assault.”
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