New Details Emerge in HIV Trial
By: bigcountryhomepage.com staff
Updated: February 28, 2012
Testimony began today in the trial of a serviceman who is accused of
intentionally transmitting the HIV virus to a woman in Abilene.
The woman, a mother of two, was stationed at Dyess Air Force Base from December of 2005 until July of 2011 and says she and Jonathan McCain were childhood friends.
McCain is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (HIV).
The woman said she knew McCain from elementary school in South Carolina and reconnected with him 12 years after high school graduation through Facebook.
After a few phone conversations while McCain was stationed in Oklahoma, she says the two made plans for him to come to Abilene for the day.
The woman testified that before he came to Abilene she specifically asked him if he had been tested for any diseases, including HIV. She says he gave her no indication that he was HIV positive.
During opening statements, prosecutor Joel Wilks told the jury that McCain knew he was HIV positive, was being treated by the military for his disease, and was under direct orders from his commander not to have unprotected sex.
The woman, now stationed at an Air Force base in San Antonio says McCain came to Abilene for the day back in June of 2009. They had unprotected sex and he left the same day.
In October of 2009, she and her coworkers went to the Meek Blood Center, here in Abilene, and gave blood as part of a group project at work. On the stand the woman cried as she said Meek called her back a week later and told her she had tested positive for the HIV virus.
Through tears she told jurors that she could not believe it. She said after hearing the news she parked her car somewhere on base and cried.
She went on to say she called McCain and informed him, and he still did not tell her he was HIV positive.
The mother of two eventually went to the Big Country AIDS Resource center and got her own test done. When that came back positive she called McCain again, and he told her he did not know he was HIV positive.
She now has to take medication everyday to keep the virus from duplicating in her body and has since remarried. She says she cleans her home everyday with Clorox, and when preparing a meal for her family, if she cuts herself she gets rid of that knife.
Testimony will continue today.
The woman, a mother of two, was stationed at Dyess Air Force Base from December of 2005 until July of 2011 and says she and Jonathan McCain were childhood friends.
McCain is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon (HIV).
The woman said she knew McCain from elementary school in South Carolina and reconnected with him 12 years after high school graduation through Facebook.
After a few phone conversations while McCain was stationed in Oklahoma, she says the two made plans for him to come to Abilene for the day.
The woman testified that before he came to Abilene she specifically asked him if he had been tested for any diseases, including HIV. She says he gave her no indication that he was HIV positive.
During opening statements, prosecutor Joel Wilks told the jury that McCain knew he was HIV positive, was being treated by the military for his disease, and was under direct orders from his commander not to have unprotected sex.
The woman, now stationed at an Air Force base in San Antonio says McCain came to Abilene for the day back in June of 2009. They had unprotected sex and he left the same day.
In October of 2009, she and her coworkers went to the Meek Blood Center, here in Abilene, and gave blood as part of a group project at work. On the stand the woman cried as she said Meek called her back a week later and told her she had tested positive for the HIV virus.
Through tears she told jurors that she could not believe it. She said after hearing the news she parked her car somewhere on base and cried.
She went on to say she called McCain and informed him, and he still did not tell her he was HIV positive.
The mother of two eventually went to the Big Country AIDS Resource center and got her own test done. When that came back positive she called McCain again, and he told her he did not know he was HIV positive.
She now has to take medication everyday to keep the virus from duplicating in her body and has since remarried. She says she cleans her home everyday with Clorox, and when preparing a meal for her family, if she cuts herself she gets rid of that knife.
Testimony will continue today.
