China Spring woman who threatened deputies with shotgun sentenced to prison
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A China Spring woman who ignored deputies’ orders to drop a shotgun outside her home in 2023 before deputies shot her was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday in two incidents involving the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office.
Judge Susan Kelly of Waco’s 54th State District Court sentenced Aurora Victoria Whitman, 62, to three concurrent 12-year sentences in the incident in which she threatened deputies with a shotgun and one in 2019,in which she also pleaded guilty to assaulting a jailer by kicking him in the groin.
She must serve at least six years in prison before she can seek parole.
After Whitman was sentenced, her attorney, Lauren McLeod, told the judge that Whitman is remorseful for her actions and wanted to apologize to the court and to the deputies involved in the incident.
“She feels awful that the officers felt threatened,” McLeod said. “She was in a mental health crisis at the time and just wanted to express her regret to the officers. She feels bad about the case happening.”
Kelly said she appreciated the apology and told Whitman, “I see you have a good heart.”
The judge told her to serve her time and then “go back to being your sweet self.”
The deputies, Billy Garrett and James Wolfe, who later were cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting, shot Whitman twice in the stomach after she refused to drop a shotgun she was pointing at the officers.
“The deputies acted appropriately to ensure their safety and the safety of our citizens,” Sheriff Parnell McNamara said at the time.
Whitman was hospitalized in stable condition before she was taken to jail. She was charged with aggravated assault on a public servant.
An arrest affidavit says that deputies responded to a disturbance at Whitman’s mobile home in the 300 block of Freedman Street in January 2023. The person reporting the disturbance said Whitman was “tearing up the house, being very violent.” The person left the house and met deputies at another location.
The affidavit says the “reporting party” warned deputies that Whitman had a shotgun, swords and knives in the house, and said “she is not going to jail and will hurt officers.”
As the deputies arrived and parked their patrol cars, Whitman walked toward them holding a shotgun, according to the affidavit.
“The deputies gave verbal commands to ‘drop the weapon.’ As Aurora continued to approach deputies on foot, ignoring commands given to drop the weapon, continued to display the gun in a threatening manner. The deputies fired their duty weapon, striking Aurora,” the arrest document states.
Whitman was sentenced to five years in prison in 2008 for burglary of a habitation. She also has misdemeanor convictions for assault and criminal mischief, according to court records.
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