Patricia Hughes, 25, pleaded guilty yesterday to setting off a small firebomb outside a Shreveport abortion clinic. Hughes and her boyfriend, Jeremy Dunahoe, 18, were originally charged in January. Last December, Dunahoe drove Hughes to the clinic where she threw a Molotov cocktail at the Hope Medical Group for Women. It was ignited, but caused minimal damage to the clinic and did not interrupt the clinic’s services. With Hughes’ plea, prosecutors agreed to disregard a prior burglary conviction that would have increased her sentence. Hughes faces up to 20 years in prison.
Jeremy Dunahoe also pleaded guilty yesterday to being an accessory to the crime. Dunahoe drove Hughes to the clinic but claimed that he was unaware of Hughes’ plans, KTBS 3 reports. He now faces up to five years in prison. Hughes and Dunahoe will both be sentenced in early August.
In her original defense, Hughes claimed that the Molotov cocktail was not intended to cause damage, but to serve as a “memorial lamp” after she had an abortion at the clinic. Prosecutors, however, showed that it was an illegal incendiary device, comprised of a shampoo bottle filled with gasoline, a rag for a fuse, and a candle, that had been thrown at the clinic.
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