Preaching Protection Woman Who Says Ex-Lover Gave Her Hiv Speaks Up After Judge’s Ruling
It’s hard for Susan Wyatt to accept that the man charged with intentionally giving her the deadly virus that causes AIDS was ruled too sick to stand trial.
But it’s equally tough seeing her former boyfriend, Jeffrey Walker, so ill.
“It’s very difficult seeing Jeff in the condition he’s in now - and knowing I’ll be in that condition down the road,” Wyatt said Thursday, a day after the attempted murder charge against Walker was dropped.
“I just cried. I cried for him and I cried for me. It’s hard seeing different stages of the AIDS virus. I … I don’t want to die like that. I guess I’m just really sad.”
Wyatt, 43, avoided Walker’s three-day competency hearing because she expected it to be stressful. She hasn’t talked to Walker, 28, for more than a year, but she saw pictures of him in news reports.
Wyatt and prosecutors hoped to prove in an October trial that Walker had kept his AIDS a secret while having unprotected sex with Wyatt.
Walker’s attorneys insist Wyatt knew all along that Walker had AIDS but slept with him anyway.
Wyatt, a single mother of three, held a news conference at her Valley apartment complex Thursday to warn people about AIDS and talk about the hearing.
While she expressed pity for Walker, Wyatt says she believes he is exaggerating his illness to escape trial.
She also is angry with him for insisting she knew about his disease early in their romance. Walker was accused of exposing Wyatt to AIDS through sexual intercourse between Aug. 1 and Sept. 24, 1992.
Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser is working with attorneys statewide to ensure such cases get tough prosecution and are brought to trial quickly. “It took longer than it should have. We’re trying to streamline the procedure.”
Wyatt first filed a complaint with sheriff’s detectives in November 1993. The trial had been scheduled for Oct. 20.
Wyatt and her 16-year-old daughter, Sarah, since have moved from a rental home to a federally funded apartment complex for terminally ill people. Her two sons are grown.
Although Wyatt takes AZT (an antiviral drug used in the treatment of AIDS), anti-nausea drugs and anti-depressants, she doesn’t appear ill. For now, she said, her energy level is so high she goes backpacking, camps and often peddles her pink bicycle along the Centennial Trail.
She also tells her story as a guest speaker at conferences from Olympia to Montana. Each time, she urges people to take responsibility for their sexual health.
“In a way,” she said, “I’m very responsible. I should have protected me, no matter what.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo