No 'Normal' for Boy Whose Dad Injected Him with HIV
Nov. 19 -- Although they are the victims, Jennifer Jackson and her son feel like they are the ones in prison.
Known in court papers as "BSJ," Jackson's son is suffering from full-blown AIDS because his father, Brian Stewart, injected him with HIV-tainted blood in 1992 when the boy was 11 months old. Stewart was convicted in December 1998 of first-degree assault for the crime.
Stewart was a phlebotomist — a hospital technician who draws blood — in Columbia, Mo. Prosecutors argued that Stewart, who was never married to Jackson, never wanted to have a child with Jackson and injected BSJ with HIV, thinking that he would die right away and that he would not have to make child support payments. BSJ was not diagnosed with AIDS until 1996.
The trial judge sentenced Stewart to life in prison, telling him, "The most I can give you is life in prison, but I really don't think that's fair compared to what your son will go through. When your son dies, I'm pretty sure he'll go to heaven. But I really think you're going to burn in hell for all eternity."
Today, as Stewart serves his sentence, his son remains in a prison of his own — his body. At age 11, BSJ has already lived longer than his doctors expected. Like any typical 11-year-old, he wants to be active, play sports and do the things that other children his age do. But he cannot.
"I tell my friends this frequently. Though this man [Stewart] is no longer in our lives, we continue to be affected by the things he did when he was in our lives," Jackson told ABCNEWS.com. "Who really got the life sentence here?"
A Blessing and a Burden
Stewart's conviction and life sentence represented a victory for the St. Charles County Prosecutor's Office. However, prosecutor Ross Buehler, who tried the case, says there really were not any winners.
"I've just never seen anyone reach that kind of depravity that you can do this to your own son to get back at your girlfriend," said Buehler. "There is no way to compare the amount of suffering the boy and his parent have gone through and will continue to go through. Mr. Stewart is spending life in prison but he largely got off light. The illness this boy suffers will be with him for the rest of his life and he'll have a hard go at it."
BSJ's disease leaves him too winded and weak to go a full day of school without having to take a nap. He has no relationship with his biological father. His mother says he fights depression and has nightmares about his father getting out of prison and killing their entire family.
At times, Jackson says, it seems like her son's battle with AIDS dictates the lives of her entire household, which also includes BSJ's two sisters.
"I'm two-fold about the whole thing," Jackson said. "I see it as a blessing because I still have my son and the doctors told me he was going to die five years ago. But at the same time, everything in the household — everyone's lives in the household — revolves around his health, his caretaking, making sure he has his meds. … Whether we go out, or whether I choose to do something revolves around his health."
