A woman who pepper sprayed the father of her 1-year-old child, his wife and the child pleaded guilty to a felony charge Monday before a judge in Bowie County.
Branda Danielle Hope, 33, appeared via video before 5th District Judge Bill Miller on Monday morning with Assistant Public Defender Sylvia Delgado. Hope pleaded guilty to a charge of injury to a child.
Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter said the state’s plea agreement includes a term of probation. Miller rescheduled the case for sentencing May 13. Miller ordered that a pre-sentence report be prepared prior to that hearing. Delgado asked Miller to release Hope from custody once she has completed an interview for the pre-sentence report and Miller agreed with no objection from Carter.
Hope could be sentenced to up to 10 years probation or two to 10 years in prison.
According to a probable cause affidavit, police were called to a convenience store in the 2100 block of Texas Blvd. Sept. 15. When they arrived they found a man pouring milk on his face in an attempt to neutralize the effect of the spray. The man and his wife told police that the mother of the man’s 1-year-old son had pepper sprayed them as they sat in their parked car with the windows down watching another child’s football practice on Texas Blvd.
Hope tried to take her 1-year-old son from the back seat of the car after pepper spraying the father and his wife. They were able to stop Hope and she left after a crowd began to gather.
Police called LifeNet to the scene to assist with the decontamination and the 1-year-old was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The child allegedly had a red and swollen face from the pepper spray.
