Court jails man who murdered woman thinking she had infected him with HIV/AIDS virus - Jamaica Star Online

Justice Brian Cottle sentenced Desron Roberts, who had been on remand for nearly four years awaiting trail, to a further 17 years, five months and 11 days in prison.

On June 27 this year, Robert pleaded not guilty to the charge that between October 24 and 27, 2018 he murdered Rhodesia Rochelle Bailey.

On July 16, 2018, Bailey told Roberts that she was HIV positive and two days later, he went to see a doctor, who advised him to take a post-exposure treatment for HIV and to get tested.

Nonetheless, he continued the sexual relationship with Bailey and in October 2018, decided that he would kill her, wrongly thinking that she had infected him with HIV.

On October 25, 2018, he took a knife with him to Bailey’s house.

Bailey told Roberts that she was not afraid to die and he put the knife down and began to strangle her.

Unsatisfied with his attempts to end Bailey’s life that way, Robert took up the knife and began to stab Bailey, who held on to him begging for her life.

In sentencing Roberts, Justice Cottle said he said no need to depart from the guidelines regarding the aims of criminal punishment, namely retribution, deterrence, prevention, rehabilitation and that the court must follow the sentencing guidelines, unless they lead to injustice in a particular case.

He said there was a significant degree of premeditation involved in the killing, noting that Roberts took the knife with him to the scene and told the victim that he had come to kill her

Justice Cottle said that he found that Roberts did not have the coping skills or social support network to help him to deal with the consequences of having contracted HIV and the associated social stigma