A Georgia man has been indicted on murder charges after his wife died after being diagnosed with AIDS — and prosecutors say he knew he was HIV-positive and never told her.
X, who is in his early 60s, was previously charged with reckless conduct after his wife, died in April 2022, two days after she was diagnosed with having AIDS. Now, a grand jury has indicted him for malice murder and felony murder in connection to her death.
After she passed away, family members suspected that their stepfather knew full well he was HIV-positive when he married their mother in 2014 and neglected to tell her about his status. WAGA, a local Fox affiliate, spoke to the family, who hired a private investigator to look into the life X had before he joined their family.
His wife was also battling cancer in the last years of her life. She had first been diagnosed in 2017, according to WANF, a local CBS affiliate, then went into remission. The cancer returned in 2019, and she beat it again.
But she reportedly remained ill. When she went to a different hospital for treatment, new tests were administered, revealing that she had AIDS. According to an arrest warrant reviewed by Law&Crime, she was diagnosed with AIDS on March 31, 2022, “which resulted in her death” on April 2, 2022.
Her family says she may have been living with AIDS for years without knowing it, years during which she could have been treated for the disease.
But according to her daughter, Karen Young, X never gave her the truth.
Young told WAGA, “There was malice in what he did. At any time, he could have told her and given her the right to make the decision to stay with him. Not that she would have.”
Court records showed that Xe faced three charges of reckless conduct related to his wife’s death, all filed in 2023. Prosecutors alleged at the time that he had known of his HIV-positive status since 2006 and never informed his sexual partners.
According to WANF, another woman came forward, sparking a second reckless conduct charge. A third charge soon followed when yet another woman came forward. The station reported that “multiple women” had come forward in response to its story.
X was arrested and taken into custody on July 8, 2023. He pleaded not guilty to the three reckless conduct charges. It was not immediately clear as of Friday whether he had entered a plea to the murder charges.
Bond set at $1.5 million for man accused of intentionally spreading HIV
Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office allege Cleveland Broadie knew his HIV-positive status but did not disclose it to his sexual partners.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Conyers man accused of intentionally spreading HIV was given a $1.5 million bond Monday.
The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office alleges X knew his HIV-positive status since 2006 but had unprotected sex with multiple women. He is facing three charges of “Reckless Conduct-HIV Infected Person,” relating to three alleged victims, one of whom died.
His wife died in April 2022 because of her own husband’s “reckless conduct,” prosecutors claim.
During the court hearing, the Rockdale County DA’s office asked for bond to be set at $3 million. X’s defense attorney asked for $100,000 bond, arguing the former Marine served four years in the military before an honorable discharge and is currently in a relationship.
Rockdale County Superior Court Judge Robert Mumford set bond at $500k for each charge, totaling $1.5 million. If X is able to post bond, he’ll have to wear an ankle monitor and abide by a 5 p.m.-7 a.m. curfew.
In July, investigators named two victims in the case. One even died after having undiagnosed and untreated HIV for five years, according to her medical records.
Man accused of intentionally spreading HIV faces new charges
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Conyers man accused of intentionally spreading HIV is facing new charges, as police said a a third victim has come forward.
The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office alleges X knew his HIV positive status since 2006 but did not disclose it to his sexual partners.
In July, investigators named two victims in the case. One even died after having undiagnosed and untreated HIV for five years, according to her medical records.
Y died April 2022 because of her own husband’s “reckless conduct,” prosecutors claim.
More than a year after Y’s death, police arrested her husband on July 8, 2023. The now 62-year-old suspect was charged with felony reckless conduct-HIV infected person.
A judge denied X bond days later. Shortly after, police filed a second identical charge, saying a woman came forward claiming X also had unprotected sex with her without disclosing his status. The warrant explained the unprotected intercourse happened multiple times this year.
At that time, Rockdale County detectives suggested this could be a part of a pattern.
On Sept 5, 2023, police issued a third warrant. The charging document states X “consciously disregarded unjustifiable risk” by having sexual encounters with a woman as recently as March.
All three charges are felonies with a maximum prison time of five years per count.
In August, the Rockdale County District Attorney’s Office said it intends to seek murder charges on behalf of Y.
Y ultimately went undiagnosed and untreated for HIV because there was no reason to be believe she had the virus. Having previously overcome a cancer diagnosis, her family thought, at the time, her cancer had come back.
According to her family, it wasn’t until days before her death, as she was on a ventilator, new doctors ran new tests and discovered Y was in “full blown AIDS.”
Police believe there are other victims.
Man charged with felony reckless conduct for not disclosing HIV status
A metro Atlanta mother of three and her family thought she was dying from cancer. It was untreated AIDS instead.
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A metro Atlanta man was charged last week after he allegedly infected another person by not disclosing his HIV status, and police now believe he may have infected others.
Doctors first diagnosed Y with breast cancer in 2017. She went into remission shortly after, but in 2019 it came back, attacking her lungs.
“The decline was so rapid,” said Karen Y, one of Y’s three daughters.
After years of off-and-on hospital extended stays and chemotherapy, the cancer had cleared once again but Y remained sick. Y would eventually move to a different hospital to see new doctors who ran new tests, ultimately diagnosing the 65-year-old with AIDS.
“They end up calling us, telling us that she’s not going to beat this,” Y said. “You need to take her off the ventilator and she’s not going to make it because she has HIV. She has AIDS.”
Y’s death certificate shows she died on April 2, 2022, from pneumonia and respiratory failure “due to Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.”
“She was in full blown AIDS after having untreated, undiagnosed HIV for at least five years,” Karen Y said, describing doctors’ explanations of her blood work. Y’s daughters said they were stunned at the news because, throughout the years, they were so focused on treating the cancer, neither they nor their mom had reason to believe she was suffering from a sexually transmitted illness.
Police believe Y’s husband since 2014, X, 61, gave her the virus and did not disclose his HIV-positive status. He was arrested July 10. Investigators allege X knew of his status and had been taking medication since 2006. (NOTE: X is not related to Y’s daughters.)
“X did endanger the bodily safety of another person by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk that his act or omission of not telling … resulted in her death,” X’s charging documents said, adding, “such disregard constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care which a reasonable person would have exercised in the situation.”
X’s bond hearing was held July 11 in the Rockdale County Magistrate Court, with Y’s family in attendance.
“Based on the likelihood — the warrant does indicate that your reckless — alleged reckless conduct resulted in the death of your wife, the victim – so in the likelihood that this will probably escalate to a felony murder charge, I am going to deny bond, finding you a risk of flight,” Chief Magistrate Judge Phinia Atten said.
As X’s hearing wrapped up on that charge, prosecutors soon filed a second, alleging he had unprotected sex with another victim this year and did not disclose his status.
“I do not think my mother was the first and I do not think she will be the last,” Karen Y said.
If X is convicted of the charges of Reckless Conduct HIV-Infected Person, he would face up to five years on each count. Previously, the penalty was 10 years for an HIV-positive individual who did not disclose his or her status.
Advocacy groups like Georgia Equality worked to change the law during the 2021-22 Georgia General Assembly through Senate Bill 164. The nonprofit argues the new law was not intended for cases like X’s, who police claim knew his status and had criminal intent.
“So the particular instance in which someone would be arrested and charged with HIV transmission without disclosure was very, very rare,” said Chauncey McGlathery, Georgia Equality’s HIV policy manager and a former prosecutor.
McGlathery said HIV most often spreads because people do not know their status.
Georgia ranks second in the country for the rate of HIV diagnoses, according to the latest HIV surveillance summary from the Georgia Department of Public Health.
According to the Fulton County Board of Health, Fulton is the nation’s sixth highest for new HIV diagnoses.
Pointing to improved science and medication, McGlathery said people are not dying from HIV and AIDS. This is not a “death sentence,” especially in 2023, he said.
