In a troubling case from Texas, Mason Herring, a 39-year-old attorney, has been sentenced to 180 days in jail after pleading guilty to adding abortion medication to his pregnant wife’s drinks. The case has drawn significant attention, not least because of the impact on their now 1-year-old daughter, who suffers from developmental delays and requires therapy sessions eight times a week, as shared by Catherine Herring, Mason’s estranged wife, in Harris County court.
Catherine expressed her dissatisfaction with the sentence’s leniency, highlighting the gravity of Mason’s actions, which she described as attempts to “kill your child seven separate times.” The distressing events unfolded after Mason discovered in 2022 that Catherine was expecting their third child amidst their separation and ongoing couples counseling.
“I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times,” she said, according to The Associated Press.
Catherine recounted to the police how Mason’s reaction to the pregnancy news during a counseling session in March 2022 was decidedly negative, leading to a series of troubling texts expressing his dismay and concern over how the pregnancy would disrupt his plans.
Following the counselor’s advice to spend spring break together, Mason allegedly began to emphasize the importance of hydration to Catherine, ultimately leading to the incident on March 17, 2022, where he insisted she drink a cup of water he provided with her breakfast. Catherine noticed the water’s cloudiness, which Mason attributed to dirty cups or pipes.
However, after consuming the drink, Catherine experienced severe illness, cramping, and bleeding, prompting an emergency room visit. Suspecting foul play, Catherine installed cameras in their home, which later captured Mason tampering with her drinks on six additional occasions with what she believed to be abortion medication. Although she avoided consuming these subsequent beverages, Catherine provided the police with video evidence of Mason’s actions and discovered packaging for misoprostol, a medication used to induce abortion, in the trash he discarded.
Initially facing charges of felony assault to induce abortion, Mason Herring accepted a plea deal for charges of injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person. Alongside the jail sentence, he was sentenced to 10 years of probation and is prohibited from contacting Catherine and their young daughter. Mason’s attorney, Dan Cogdell, commented on the sentence, stating that Mason has acknowledged his responsibility in this “sad situation.”
