HOUSTON — A Houston attorney pleaded guilty to injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person, charges that had been downgraded as part of his deal.
Mason Herring, 39, was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation. He's also expected to lose his law license. He is the founder of Herring Law Firm in Houston.
The sentence didn't sit well with his soon-to-be ex-wife.
"I do not believe that 180 days is justice for attempting to kill your child seven separate times," Catherine Herring said.
Mason Herring had been the first person in Harris County to be charged with felony assault to induce abortion. The charge was withdrawn as part of the plea deal.
Prosecutors said Mason Herring secretly drugged his wife's drinks multiple times to induce an abortion while she was pregnant with their third child.
After two years of silence, Catherine Herring said it was liberating to face him in court, where she also gave an impact statement. She told him that his actions "shattered" their family.
The allegations
Between March and April of 2022, Catherine Herring said her husband of 11 years tried to kill their unborn child with abortion-inducing drugs seven times.
She said that as a result of his attempts, their 1-year-old daughter was born premature, has developmental delays and attends therapy eight times a week.
"Incredibly hard, unspeakably difficult, we just take one day at a time," she said.
She said it started after she found out he was having an affair and asked for a separation.
That's when she found out she was pregnant with their third child. She said he wasn't happy about it and even sent a text message saying that it would ruin his plans and make him look like a "jerk."
She said the first time he tried to poison her was during spring break when he gave her a glass of cloudy water and mentioned the importance of staying hydrated. She didn't suspect anything at the time, but she became violently ill and had to go to the emergency room.
After that, she said, he continued to bring her drinks that were spiked with what she eventually found out was misoprostol, a drug used to induce abortions.
She said she didn't consume the drinks, but instead kept them as evidence and turned them over to Houston police. She also provided videos from hidden cameras she installed at her home where he was no longer living.
One of those videos, she said, showed him in the kitchen slipping a powdered substance into her drink.
The punishment
Catherine Herring, while relieved her husband was punished, said the judgment wasn't enough.
When he was arrested, Mason Herring was the first and only person in Harris County to be charged with felony assault to induce abortion. That charge was withdrawn as part of his plea deal.
"That needs to be fixed. It needs to add jail time and not be canceled out," she said.
Catherine Herring said she now plans on advocating for other victims of domestic violence.
"I believe I have an opportunity to support and advocate for victims of domestic violence and I'm happy to do anything I can to ensure that no one else has to go through this," she said.
She said her fight for justice isn't over and there's currently a pending civil lawsuit.