Warning: This article contains discussion of abortion and pregnancy complications which some readers may find distressing.
A Texas woman whose husband pleaded guilty to injury to a child has shared how she found out he was poisoning her while pregnant.
Mason Herring learned that his wife Catherine Herring was pregnant with their third child in 2022, more than a decade after they had got married.
A complaint in the case explained the couple were separated at the time, but they had agreed to attend couples counseling.
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It was during a counseling session in March 2022 that Catherine told Mason about the pregnancy, with the complaint cited by NBC News alleging he had a 'negative reaction' and 'did not know what to do'.
Later, Catherine said Mason began to tell her that she needed to drink more water.
After the counselor advised that they spend spring break together, Mason allegedly brought Catherine breakfast and water in bed and said he would not leave until she drank the whole cup.
Catherine noticed the water looked cloudy, but Mason allegedly claimed it was because the cup or pipes were dirty.
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After drinking the water, Catherine became severely ill and began to bleed.
Thankfully Catherine did not lose the child, but their daughter was born 10 weeks premature and had to spend seven weeks in the NICU.
Catherine has alleged that the now-one-year-old little girl has developmental delays, uses a feeding tube to eat and and attends therapy eight times a week.
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After pleading guilty to poisoning Catherine, Mason was sentenced to 180 days in jail - but Catherine has expressed belief that the time she drank the water was not the only time her husband tried to poison her.
Discussing the suspicions she had after she drank the first glass, Catherine told The Daily Beast: "I just wanted desperately to be wrong. I wanted there to be another explanation, because this is your husband who you love and adore and have children with.
“But my instinct was, ‘Something’s wrong, I need to protect myself. And I just need to make sure he doesn’t know I’m onto him.'
"Because I really felt like that was the only way I could collect evidence.”
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Catherine has claimed Mason repeatedly tried to give her drinks, but instead of drinking them she hid the cups and bottles away before taking them to a private investigator.
While they waited for the test results, Catherine set about installing video cameras in the house and spotted Mason taking out trash bags.
Catherine got chance to look through the bags, and found a blister pack containing a generic version of misoprostol - the drug most commonly used to induce an abortion.
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Two days later, Catherine saw Mason on camera with a plastic bag full of white powder which he emptied into her drink.
The following day Catherine she went to the Houston Police Department to discuss her suspicions, but it took nearly a month for an arrest to be made.
After Mason was arrested, he accepted a plea deal in which prosecutors dropped the charges of assault to induce abortion and assault on a pregnant person.
As well as 180 days in jail, Mason has been sentenced to 10 years parole and is barred from contacting Catherine or their youngest daughter.
After alleging Mason tried seven times to end the baby's life, Catherine said: "One hundred and eighty days—it’s less than 26 days per attempt that he will serve in jail."
Catherine expressed belief that the state of Texas is 'treating men and women differently' when it comes to the topic of aborting a child, but she is now hoping to speak up for victims of domestic violence and 'call out injustice'.
“I can’t change anything now, but I just hope that no one should ever have to go through this again," she said.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1−800−799−SAFE(7233). The Hotline provides service referrals to agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Emily Brown