Father Is Accused of Injecting Son With HIV-Infected Blood

ST. CHARLES, Mo. —  A medical technician has been charged with injecting his son with HIV-infected blood so the boy would die and he wouldn’t have to pay child support.

Brian Stewart, 31, of Columbia, Ill., was arrested Tuesday and jailed in lieu of $500,000 bond. He was charged with first-degree assault, which carries a life sentence if convicted.

Prosecutors say that when Stewart’s son was hospitalized as an infant with respiratory problems six years ago, he injected the boy with tainted blood he had brought from his job at a St. Louis hospital.

The boy contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Doctors called police two years ago when they could not explain how the child contracted the virus. The boy, now 7, has a fully developed case of AIDS.

Stewart came under suspicion when he told the boy’s mother and other family members that she would never collect child support payments because their son wouldn’t live that long. Stewart had contested his son’s paternity, authorities said.