A Georgia woman was shot in the head by her boyfriend, but didn't realize what had happened to her for more than a month, prosecutors said.
Nicole Gordon, 42, of Atlanta, found out when doctors discovered a bullet lodged in the rear of her skull in June 2017, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. The doctors treated Gordon at Atlanta Medical Center, where she had gone after complaining of headaches, memory loss and difficulty communicating.
On Thursday, 39-year-old Jerrontae Cain was sentenced to 25 years in prison connection with the shooting.
Gordon told police she didn't remember being shot but did remember an argument with Cain during which her car window shattered and she passed out.
She thought she was hurt by broken glass and was patched up at the home of Cain's mother.
“At no point during the month between the fight with Cain and her eventual visit to Atlanta Medical Center did Gordon receive any professional care,” Howard said in a statement, which accused Cain of hiding Gordon at his mother’s house all that time.
Jerrontae Cain
(FBI Atlanta)
Staff at Atlanta Medical Center contacted the police after discovering the bullet. Cain told cops Gordon hurt herself when she crashed her car into a tree, shattering glass.
“The crime scene proved to be inconsistent with Cain’s explanation, and doctors determined that the injuries Gordon suffered were consistent with being shot in the head,” Howard said. A warrant was issued for Cain's arrest, but he was not taken into custody until January of this year, following a two-hour standoff at a home in suburban College Park.
According to Howard, doctors say the bullet will have to remain in Gordon's skull because they fear that any attempt to remove it will kill her. Gordon's friends testified at trial that Cain had abused her in the past, leaving bruises and black eyes "on several different occasions."
Cain was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, and weapons charges. He was previously convicted of sexual battery in 2010 and faces a first-degree burglary charge in a separate Fulton County case.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the first to report on the case.
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