Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Thursday May 28 9:15 AM EDT
Brian Stewart, 31, of Columbia, Ill., is charged with first-degree assault and could get life in prison if convicted. If the child dies, the charges would likely be upgraded to murder, making Stewart eligible for the death penalty. Judge Jon A. Cunningham Wednesday made the ruling after a preliminary hearing. Stewart is scheduled to be arraigned on June 5. Prosecutors expect a trial to begin late this year or early next.
Two days of testimony portrayed Stewart as a dangerous and abusive man who never wanted responsibility for the child and bragged of his power to end people's lives.
The boy's mother, Jennifer, said she and Stewart met in 1990 and that he raped her when she was 6 months pregnant with the boy, who is now 7 years old. She said that Stewart once told her not to bother seeking child support because he said, "He won't live to see the age of 5."
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Ross Buehler argued at the hearing that Stewart is the only person who had the opportunity, the knowledge and the motive to inject his son with blood containing the virus believed to cause AIDS.
Buehler said Stewart hid a syringe filled with HIV-contaminated blood under a lab coat and entered the room of his 11-month-old son in February 1992. Buehler said Stewart took the tainted blood sample from Barnes Hospital in St. Louis which employed him as a phlebotomist _ a person who draws blood. The boy was diagnosed with AIDS in 1996.
However, defense attorney Joseph Murphy says prosecutors are basing their case on theories, not evidence. He said the boy could have contracted the disease any number of ways.
"A tragedy is not a crime, and theories are not facts," Murphy said.
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