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Texas attorney, 38, spikes wife's drinks with abortion drug as her pregnancy 'would ruin his plans'

Mason Herring was seeing a female colleague at that time and was afraid that his wife's pregnancy would make him 'seem like a jerk'

HOUSTON, TEXAS: A Texas lawyer is facing charges for allegedly spiking his wife's drinking water and beverages with abortion-inducing drugs after knowledge of her pregnancy, as per the documents obtained by Law&Crime. 

A Harris County grand jury returned a true bill charging Mason Herring, 38, who is the founder of a law firm specializing in oil and gas, with one count each of assault of a pregnant person and assault–forced induction to have an abortion, under the statute brought into effect in 2022 which also criminalizes abortions in the state. If convicted, Herring will face charges including a potential sentence of two to 10 years in prison and a fine ranging up to $10,000. Mason's wife Catherine, filed a complaint on April 27. 

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According to theaffidavit, the couple was attending marriage counseling after being separated for approximately two weeks when Catherine informed the attorney about being pregnant with their third child on March 8. Herring, who was allegedly romantically involved with a female colleague since their separation, was not happy with the news because pregnancy "would ruin his plans and make him look like a jerk."

However, within a week, Herring visited his wife's house where he no longer lived with breakfast, and lectured her about staying hydrated. "She stated that he 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. The complainant drank out of the cup and stopped to take a breath. She noticed the water appeared to be cloudy. She questioned the defendant about this. He stated perhaps the cup was dirty or the pipes were dirty. She stated that he then took the cup and left," the affidavit stated, as per the outlet. 

"After finishing the water, in about 30 minutes, the woman became ill and was admitted to the emergency room where the doctors took her urine sample," Anthony Osso, an assistant district attorney assigned to the case, he told KTRK, as per ABC News. "The complainant stated that she then began to suspect that something had been placed in her drink and that perhaps it was some kind of abortion drug due to her symptoms and his reaction to finding out that she was pregnant. She stated that she had two more bouts of diarrhea and on the final time, she discovered that she was bleeding. She stated that it was a large amount of blood, much like having her period," the document read. 

The following day, Catherine was presented with "another beverage in an orange sports bottle," which she avoided drinking and kept as evidence. According to GlobalNews, the husband offered Catherine drinks six times over a course of a month which she successfully kept as proof. The beverages include a bottle of orange juice with a broken seal and a fountain drink from Sonic that allegedly had a substance floating in it. 

Catherine was suspicious of her husband and decided to set up cameras all around the house. The action was certainly fruitful as the accused was found taking a bag of powder from his pocket and adding it to his wife's drink, per authorities. On April 24, he was caught cleaning out his truck in front of Catherine’s home and taking out the trash. "She stated this was out of character for the defendant, as he does not do chores around the house. When the defendant left, the complainant went to the trash can to see what was inside," the court documents read. "Catherine stated that she then found opened blister packs labeled as ‘Cyrux,’ which she discovered was a Mexican pharmacy version of the American drug Cytotec and the main ingredient of which is Misoprostol, a drug that she knows is used to cause abortion."

The six water samples were reportedly tested at an Oklahoma lab which proved that at least two of them contained misoprostol. “It’s manipulative. It’s pre-meditated. What we are alleging Mr. Herring did, which we believe the evidence supports, is a pretty heinous act,” said Osso, as per GlobalNews. 

Herring was released from jail on a $30,000 bail. However, he is scheduled to appear in court on December 2, as per court records.