Brian Stewart (phlebotomist)
{{Short description|American criminal}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Brian Stewart
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1966|10|30}}
| image_name =
| image_size =
| image_caption =
| conviction = First degree assault
| conviction_penalty = Life imprisonment
| conviction_status = Incarcerated
| occupation = Phlebotomist
| birth_place = Columbia, Illinois, U.S.
}}
Brian T. Stewart (born October 30, 1966{{Cite web|title=MODOC Offender Search|url=https://web.mo.gov/doc/offSearchWeb/welcome.do|access-date=December 20, 2021|website=web.mo.gov}}) is a former phlebotomist from Columbia, Illinois,{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/04/us/man-accused-of-injecting-hiv-in-son.html|title=Man Accused of Injecting H.I.V. in Son|last=Thomas|first=Jo|accessdate=May 24, 2008|date=December 4, 1998|work=The New York Times}} who was convicted in December 1998 of injecting his son (born Bryan Stewart Jr., now known as Brryan Jackson) with HIV-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 being treated for asthma and pneumonia when he was infected with the virus.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9804/22/briefs.pm/aids.father/index.html|title=Man accused of injecting infant son with HIV|date=April 22, 1998|accessdate=May 24, 2008|work=CNN}} Stewart's wife contacted Stewart to inform him that their son was in the hospital. When he arrived, he sent her to the café to get a beverage. Stewart then allegedly injected tainted blood into his son. When she returned, Brian was screaming in Stewart's arms.{{cite news|url=http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2002/11/8/theWorldIsSoTight|title=A Weekly Compendium of Horror Stories from Around the Globe|last=Wass|first=Julian|date=November 8, 2002|work=Stanford Daily|accessdate=May 24, 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214053243/http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2002/11/8/theWorldIsSoTight|archivedate=February 14, 2007}} The tainted blood was incompatible with Brian's. The boy was diagnosed with AIDS in 1996.
On April 22, 1998, Stewart was charged with first-degree assault; the county prosecutor stated that this was because first-degree assault results in a longer sentence than attempted murder.
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 to the boy's mother.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9804/24/aids.injection/|title=Mother in HIV case pleads for privacy|date=April 24, 1998|accessdate=May 24, 2008|work=CNN}}
A Missouri jury found Stewart guilty of first-degree assault 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."{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9812/06/aids.inject.conviction/ |title=Man convicted for injecting his son with HIV virus |date=1998-12-06 |accessdate=2008-05-24 |work=CNN |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107060800/http://www.cnn.com/US/9812/06/aids.inject.conviction/ |archivedate=January 7, 2007 }}
On January 9, 1999, Stewart was sentenced to life imprisonment at St. Charles County Circuit Court.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/09/us/national-news-briefs-man-is-given-life-term-in-boy-s-aids-infection.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes+Topics%2FSubjects%2FC%2FChildren+and+Youth |title=National News Briefs; Man Is Given Life Term In Boy's AIDS Infection|accessdate=May 24, 2008|date=January 9, 1999|work=The New York Times}} 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,{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_re_us/us_teen_hiv_injection |title=Injected with HIV by dad as baby, teen inspires |last=Taylor |first=Betsy |accessdate=June 8, 2009 |date=June 6, 2009 |agency=Associated Press |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611213448/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090607/ap_on_re_us/us_teen_hiv_injection |archivedate=June 11, 2009 }} but was twice denied.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37696071 |title=Brryan Jackson: My father injected me with HIV |last=Hancock |first=Lucy |accessdate=January 22, 2018 |date=October 18, 2016|work=BBC News}}
References
- AIDS Policy Law. 1998 Dec 25;13(22):11
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050825061021/http://www.nd.edu/~ndmag/crimef99.htm Article claiming that the verdict was questionable]
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/04/us/man-accused-of-injecting-hiv-in-son.html?sec=health New York Times: Man Accused of Injecting H.I.V. in Son]
- [https://caselaw.findlaw.com/mo-court-of-appeals/1172583.html Missouri Court Ruling] on denial of appeal, 2001
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Brian}}
Category:Criminal transmission of HIV
Category:People from Columbia, Illinois