Brian T. Stewart (born October 30, 1966) is a former

phlebotomist Phlebotomy is the process of making a puncture in a vein, usually in the arm, with a cannula for the purpose of drawing blood. The procedure itself is known as a venipuncture, which is also used for intravenous therapy. A person who performs a ph ...

from

Columbia, Illinois Columbia is a city mainly in Monroe County with a small portion in St. Clair County in the U.S. state of Illinois, about south of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 10,999 at the 2020 census. History Columbia was first incorporated in 1 ...

, who was convicted in December 1998 of injecting his son (born Bryan Stewart Jr., now known as Brryan Jackson) with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

-contaminated blood.

Child abuse incident

On February 6, 1992 in St Joseph's Hospital West, in Lake St. Louis, Missouri, Stewart's 11 month-old son Brian was treated for asthma and pneumonia when he was infected with the virus. Brian's mother contacted Stewart to inform him that their son was in the hospital. When he arrived, he sent Brian's mother to the café to get a beverage. Stewart then allegedly injected tainted blood into his son. When Brian's mother returned, her son was screaming in his fathers arms. The tainted blood was incompatible with Brian's. The boy was diagnosed with

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

in 1996. On April 22, 1998, Stewart was charged with first degree

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in crim ...

; the county prosecutor stated that this was because first-degree assault results in a longer sentence than

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seven ye ...

. Prosecutors stated that Stewart was a phlebotomist who had daily access to blood, and Stewart's co-workers testified that Stewart had previously made threats to harm people using contaminated blood when he was angry. The motive behind the crime was Stewart's desire to avoid paying

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

to the boy's mother. A

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

jury found Stewart

guilt Guilt may refer to: *Guilt (emotion), an emotion that occurs when a person feels that they have violated a moral standard *Culpability, a legal term *Guilt (law), a legal term Music *Guilt (album), ''Guilt'' (album), a 2009 album by Mims *Guilt ( ...

y of first-degree

on December 6, 1998. Stewart's attorney, Joe Murphy, said that "My client has maintained all along that he is innocent" and also claimed that "Mom made an allegation and everyone ran with it." On January 9, 1999, Stewart was sentenced to life imprisonment at St. Charles County Circuit Court. Judge Ellsworth Cundiff said that the maximum sentence was inadequate, and told Stewart "''injecting a child with the HIV virus really puts you in the same category as the worst war criminal''" and "''when God finally calls you, you are going to burn in hell from here to eternity.''" Stewart became eligible for parole in 2011, but was twice denied it and will become eligible again in 2021.

References

*AIDS Policy Law. 1998 Dec 25;13(22):11

External links

Article claiming that the verdict was questionable
* ttps://caselaw.findlaw.com/mo-court-of-appeals/1172583.html Missouri Court Rulingon denial of appeal, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Brian 1966 births Living people Criminal transmission of HIV People from Columbia, Illinois American people convicted of assault American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment