North County man who killed girlfriend over AIDS exposure to be sentenced

VISTA (KUSI) – MONDAY 6:52 P.M. – The sentencing of Kirk Leon Stapleton was rescheduled to June 17, 2015.

MONDAY 12:31 P.M. – Sentencing was scheduled Monday in the case of a North County man who was convicted last year of killing his girlfriend after he discovered that she exposed him to the AIDS virus. 55-year-old Kirk Leon Stapleton was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, 47-year-old Juanita Kawash. Stapleton, according to reports, beat Kawash to death when he found out that she had been exposed to HIV. How Kawash became exposed to the virus, or whether Stapleton himself ever tested positive, remained unclear.

Kawash’s body was discovered on August 19, 2003, just one day after Stapleton killed her and dumped her body behind a shopping center.

He faces 26 years to life in prison.