A Houston lawyer who slipped his estranged wife abortion-inducing drugs after learning about her third pregnancy was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years on probation.
Mason Herring, 39, pleaded guilty Wednesday to injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person.
The lawyer, founder and managing partner of the Herring Law Firm had initially been charged with felony assault to induce abortion.
His wife Catherine Herring, who has filed for divorce, told the courtroom the sentence was too lenient, saying “I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times.”
She told the courtroom their third child, a 1-year-old girl, was born 10 weeks premature, has developmental delays, and goes to therapy eight times a week.
The pair had already been separated and attending marriage counseling to try and repair their relationship when she admitted to being pregnant with their third child.
The news, however, was not well-received by Mason, who had since become romantically involved with a co-worker and told his wife the pregnancy “would ruin his plans and make him look like a jerk” according to an affidavit.
Catherine told authorities that in March 2022 her husband began lecturing her on hydration and began offering her cloudy water, which he claimed was a result of the cup or water pipes being dirty.
After drinking the murky water, Catherine became severely ill, experiencing cramps and severe bleeding before ending up in the hospital, where doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
She then became suspicious of her husband and began refusing his other drinks, including three that had “an unknown substance” and a bottle of orange juice with a broken seal.
Catherine set up a camera in the home, where her husband was no longer living and invited two people over as “witnesses” to his visit, during which he allegedly tried to give her a drink even though she already had two beverages.
Catherine told investigators that she and her guests saw “an unknown substance” floating in the drink he gave her.
The following day, she also noticed a substance in a drink he brought from a fast-food joint, according to the affidavit.
Soon after she found packaging for a drug that contained misoprostol, a medication used to induce abortions, in the trash.
Mason’s attorney Dan Codgell called the plea deal and sentence reasonable.
“It’s a sad situation and Mason has accepted his responsibility,” Cogdell said.
With Post wires.