KEY POINTS

  • Bono, 60, curses at couple and threatens them with hammer
  • Cordovez and Dr. Franco were Ecuadorian residents of New Orleans
  • Bono called them "f---ing Mexicans"
  • Bono was charged with 2nd degree assault
  • Charges could be elevated if the case was a racially-motivated attack

A woman in Texas was charged for harassing a couple with racist comments while threatening them with a hammer on Sunday (May 24).

Constance Lynn Bono, 60, was charged for screaming profanities at Arturo Cordovez and his wife, Dr. Lia Franco, whom she mistook for Mexicans and threatened them with a hammer, NBC News reported.

According to court records, Bono was arrested after "unlawfully, intentionally and knowingly threatening Arturo Cordovez with imminent bodily injury by using and exhibiting a deadly weapon, namely, a hammer.”

According to the report, both Cordovez and Franco were from Ecuador and are New Orleans residents who decided to spend Memorial Day in Houston, Texas.

Franco, who was finishing her residency, told KPRC-TV that she noticed Bono following them in a car on the day of the incident and she and her husband decided to stop their vehicle on the side of the road.

Cordovez said that Bono also stopped her vehicle, waved a hammer at the couple and started cursing them.

The couple then drove to a gas station and call 911 but Bono followed them to the establishment and screamed at them when she pulled up beside them.

According to Franco, Bono screamed, "You Mexicans, get out of my f---ing country. Go back to your f---ing country"

A video footage showed Bono in a green shirt walking towards the couple while wielding a hammer.

"Of course, we were scared," Cordovez told Telemundo in Spanish. "As soon as she heard our accent, she immediately said 'you f---ing Mexicans go back to your f---ing country."

Franco believed that Bono needed professional help however, that does not justify her actions which was a violation of some laws in the country.

Court documents had already shown that the offender is to be evaluated to determine whether she has a mental illness or intellectual disabilities.

Bono was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony and if convicted, she could serve 20 years in jail; if the prosecutors decide that the case was racially motivated attack, the charge could be elevated to a first-degree felony.

The case was expected to go to a grand jury, the report said.

Bono was released on a bond on Wednesday (May 27) and is scheduled to show up in court on July.

Her lawyer, Hans Nielsen told NBC News that Bono denies the accusations against her.

coronavirus racism and racial discrimination
coronavirus racism and racial discrimination cottonbro - Pexels
Racism Mexico