ATLANTA — A Fulton County man was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted for shooting his ex-girlfriend in the head and hiding her in his mother’s house for a month. The girlfriend survived, but had no recollection of being shot. The bullet is lodged in her head and doctor’s say it cannot be removed.
Following more than a month of severe headaches, memory loss, and trouble communicating, on June 25, 2017, a concerned friend transported 42-year-old Nicole Gordon to Atlanta Medical Center to undergo an evaluation. During the assessment, doctors discovered a bullet lodged in the rear of Gordon’s skull. Atlanta Medical Center staff alerted the Atlanta Police Department and investigators responded to the hospital.
During their conversation with Gordon, the victim could not recall being shot, but she did remember an argument she had with her ex-boyfriend, 39-year-old Jerrontae Cain, a month earlier.
Gordon said during the altercation, the driver’s side window of her vehicle broke and crashed down on her face. Gordon said at that point she lost consciousness. Gordon briefly regained consciousness shortly after and realized she was in Cain’s vehicle.
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Gordon said the two eventually ended up at the defendant’s mother’s home where they treated her for what she thought was a wound caused by the impact of the broken glass upon her head. 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, prosecutors said.
After interviewing Gordon, Atlanta Police spoke to Cain who stated he was present the night of the incident but claimed the victim crashed her vehicle into a tree which caused the glass to break upon her head.
According to prosecutors, 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.
Arrest warrants were issued for Cain in 2017, and FBI agents finally brought the defendant into custody in January of 2019 following a two-hour standoff. A Crime Stoppers tip led the agents to the home in College Park where police say Cain hid in the attic until he surrendered.
During trial, friends of the victim testified that Cain had abused Gordon in the past. They said the victim had bruises and black eyes on several different occasions.
Doctors determined that the bullet inside Gordon’s skull will have to remain as any attempt to remove the projectile could cause the victim’s death.
Cain has 13 prior arrests and one prior conviction for sexual battery in 2010. Cain also has an open case in Fulton County Superior Court for Burglary in the 1st degree.
Cain was convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to 30 years, with 25 years to be served in prison and the remaining five years in prison.
