JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man is explaining why he is pressing charges against an ex-partner who he says knowingly infected him with HIV.
Jamail Brown, 28, remains in jail after his Aug. 1 arrest and has a court appearance Wednesday on a charge of sexual intercourse without disclosure of HIV. If convicted, it's a third-degree felony.
"I don't hate him," said Brown's partner, who does not want his name used. "It's like I beat myself up because it could've been prevented."
He said he is not talking about his friend and ex-partner to get revenge, but to warn others who might find themselves in the same situation to be aware of what can happen.
The two began a sexual relationship in November 2015.
"I was asking him, 'Are you HIV-positive?' He was, like, 'No, I have my papers to prove it.' And I said, 'Oh well, I have mine, too,'" he said. "I showed him my papers and then I was like, 'What are you going to get your papers?' 'They're at my mom’s house. She got them, but I'll bring them to you.'"
But Brown never produced that paperwork. Then, a friend let him in on a secret.
"A friend came by and, like, 'Oh, he's HIV-positive. I've seen him. You need to be careful with him,' and I broke down because it was, like, too late," the partner said.
Later, he learned he was also HIV positive. He says when he asked Brown about it, Brown tried to make him feel guilty. He said Brown became sick and was in the hospital, and that’s when he learned more.
"It just hurt that I had to find out that way," the man said. "I just expected him to tell me the truth. 'You never told me the truth; you always lied.'"
The arrest report said Brown was aware he was positive last February when he was at the hospital.
Does the partner feel partly responsible because he was having unsafe sex?
"No ... because when you're in this lifestyle, you do want to protect yourself. I understand that. But at the same time, when you're in love ... you're not expecting somebody to lie about something like that," he said.
Brown is defended by the public defender, who had no comment about the case.
News4Jax has reported on two other recent criminal cases of failure to disclose HIV status. Former JTA bus driver J.P. Lowe was arrested last year and remains in jail on $1.4 million bond on three counts of having sex without disclosing he was HIV positive. Last month, William Baker was arrested on the same charge after a former girlfriend tested positive for HIV last summer.