ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — A hospital worker accused of injecting HIV-tainted blood into his son because he wanted to avoid paying child support must stand trial, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge Jon Cunningham made the ruling after a two-day hearing for Brian Stewart. Stewart will be arraigned June 5. Prosecutors say the trial will likely begin late this year or early next year.
Stewart, 31, accused of first-degree assault, could get life in prison if convicted. If the child dies and the charge is upgraded to murder, he could get the death penalty.
Prosecutors believe Stewart snuck a syringe filled with tainted blood under a lab coat and into the hospital room of his 11-month-old son in February 1992. Prosecutors say Stewart took the contaminated sample from a St. Louis hospital, where he worked as a phlebotomist, a worker who draws blood samples.
The boy, now 7, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1996.
Prosecutors believe Stewart wanted to kill the boy to avoid paying child support. The child’s mother, who has asked to be identified only as Jennifer to protect the boy’s anonymity, testified Tuesday that Stewart told her not to bother seeking child support.
Several other witnesses testified that Stewart had made threats implying he could commit a crime that could not be traced.
Defense attorney Joseph Murphy tried to show that the child could have contracted AIDS through any number of medical procedures, or from an infected needle.