Genene Jones

Genene Anne Jones (born July 13, 1950) is an American serial killer, responsible for the deaths of up to 60 infants and children in her care as a licensed vocational nurse during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, Jones was convicted of murder and injury to a child.[1] She had used injections of digoxin, heparin, and later succinylcholine to induce medical crises in her patients, causing numerous deaths. The exact number of victims remains unknown; hospital officials allegedly misplaced and then destroyed records of Jones' activities, to prevent further litigation after Jones' first conviction.[2][3][4][5]

Genene Jones
TDCJ inmate mugshot, 2006
Born (1950-07-13) July 13, 1950
Texas, U.S.
Children2
Criminal penalty99 years with triple credit
Details
VictimsTwo confirmed; possibly over 60
Span of crimes
1970–1982
CountryU.S.
State(s)Texas
Date apprehended
1982

Early life and marriages

Jones was adopted by a nightclub owner and his wife.[6] She worked as a beautician before attending nursing school in the late 1970s.[7][8]

Jones was married to her high school sweetheart between 1968 and 1974, and they had one child during that time. The relationship ended in divorce. Three years later Jones and her husband reconciled and had another child together in 1977.[6] Just before her indictment, she married a 19-year-old nursing assistant. He filed for divorce a short time later.[7]

Career and background

While Jones worked as a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) at the Bexar County Hospital (now University Hospital of San Antonio) in the pediatric intensive care unit, a statistically improbable number of children died under her care.[9] Because the hospital feared being sued, it simply asked all of its LVNs, including Jones, to resign and staffed the pediatric ICU exclusively with registered nurses. No further investigation was pursued by the hospital.[10]

Jones left and took a position at a pediatrician's clinic in Kerrville, Texas, some 60 miles northwest of San Antonio. It was here that she was charged with poisoning six children. The doctor in the office discovered two puncture marks in a bottle of succinylcholine (Suxamethonium chloride) in the drug storage, where only she and Jones had access. Contents of the apparently full bottle were later found to be heavily diluted with water, where it was estimated that only 20% of the vial's contents were succinylcholine. Succinylcholine is a powerful short-acting paralytic that causes temporary paralysis of all skeletal muscles, as well as those that control breathing; the drug is used as a part of general anesthetic. A patient cannot breathe while under the influence of this drug. In small children, cardiac arrest is the ultimate result of deoxygenation due to lack of respiration.[11]

Jones claimed she was trying to stimulate the creation of a pediatric intensive care unit in Kerrville.[12][13]

Prosecution

In 1985, Jones was sentenced to 99 years in prison for killing 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan with succinylcholine. Later that year, she was sentenced to a concurrent term of 60 years in prison for nearly killing Rolando Santos with heparin.[14]

As of May 2016, Jones was held at the Lane Murray Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.[1] She had been scheduled for mandatory release in 2018 due to a Texas law meant to prevent prison overcrowding.[1][15] To avoid this, Jones was indicted on May 25, 2017, for the murder of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer.[16] Nico LaHood, Bexar County District Attorney, stated that additional charges could be filed in the deaths of other children. Due to the mandatory early-release law covering Jones' original convictions, she would otherwise have been released upon completion of a third of the original sentence. The new charges were filed to prevent her release.[17][18] In April 2018, a judge in San Antonio denied a request to dismiss five new murder indictments against Jones.[19] On January 16, 2020, Jones pleaded guilty to the murder of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer on December 12, 1981, as part of a plea bargain in which four other charges were dropped. She was sentenced to life in prison.[20][21] She will not be eligible for parole until she is roughly 87 years old.

She was portrayed by Susan Ruttan in the television movie Deadly Medicine (1991)[22] and by Alicia Bartya in the straight-to-video movie Mass Murder (2002).[23] She was also featured in a Discovery Channel documentary, Lethal Injection; Forensic Files season five episode ten entitled Nursery Crimes;[24] a season one episode of the British docuseries Nurses Who Kill (2016);[25] as well as "Dark Secrets," an episode of the Investigation Discovery series Deadly Women.[26]

See also

General:

References
  1. "TDCJ Offender Details". offender.tdcj.texas.gov. Retrieved February 5, 2017. SID Number: 03193016 TDCJ Number: 00380650 Name: JONES, GENENE
  2. Bever, Lindsey (May 26, 2017). "'Angel of Death' nurse charged with killing another baby, suspected in up to 60 other deaths". The Washington Post.
  3. Hauser, Christine (June 23, 2017). "Texas Nurse Suspected of Killing Up to 60 Children Is Charged With Murder". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  4. King, Wayne (February 6, 1984). "Five Given Injections Quit Breathing, Doctor Says In Nurse's Trial". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  5. "Former Nurse Indicted in Texas Child Injury Case". The New York Times. November 22, 1983. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  6. "Personality Spotlight;NEWLN:Nurse Genene: Convicted murderer". United Press International. February 15, 1984. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  7. Anderson, Teresa (January 14, 1984). "Nurse Genene faces trial in children's hospital deaths". United Press International. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  8. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. New York City: Infobase Publishing. 2006. pp. 138–139. ISBN 0816069875. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  9. Zielinski, Alex (May 26, 2017). "Bexar County Prosecutors Re-Open "Angel of Death" Case". San Antonio Current. Retrieved October 21, 2017. In 1982, Jones was a young nurse working in the pediatric intensive care unit at Bexar County County Hospital (now University Hospital).
  10. Elkind, Peter (August 1983). "The Death Shift". Texas Monthly. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  11. Flores, Saul; Checchia, Paul A. (November 1, 2017). "Recognition of Impending Systemic Failure". Pediatrics in Review. Itasca, Illinois: American Academy of Pediatrics. 38 (11): 520–529. doi:10.1542/pir.2016-0102. PMID 29093120. S2CID 13473555. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  12. Hickey, Eric (2010). Serial Murderers and Their Victims (5th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-495-60081-7.
  13. Holmes, Ronald; Holmes, Stephen (1998). Contemporary Perspectives on Serial Murder. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-7619-1421-1.
  14. Elkind, Peter (August 1, 1983). "The Death Shift". Texas Monthly. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  15. Schwartz, Carly (February 24, 2011). "Genene, serial baby killer, scheduled for early release in Texas". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
  16. Elkind, Peter (May 25, 2017). "Prosecutors Race to Keep Angel-of-Death Behind Bars". Texas Monthly. Pro Publica. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  17. "Former Texas Nurse Accused of Killing Dozens of Kids in '80s". Snopes. May 26, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  18. Ellis, Ralph; Kaye, Randi; Andone, Dakin (May 26, 2017). "Texas nurse indicted in second child's death". CNN. Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  19. Zavala, Elizabeth (April 23, 2018). "Judge won't dismiss new cases against convicted child killer Genene Jones". mysanantonio.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  20. Zavala, Elizabeth (January 16, 2020). "Genene Jones, dubbed 'killer nurse,' gets life in prison". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  21. Andone, Dakin (January 17, 2020). "A former nurse suspected of killing dozens of children has been sentenced to life in prison". CNN. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  22. Tucker, Ken (November 8, 1991). "Deadly Medicine". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  23. Meyers, Jeff (2002). "Mass Murder". imdb.com. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  24. "Forensic Files - Season 5, Ep 10: Nursery Crimes". FilmRise. July 8, 2016. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  25. "Nurses Who Kill". www.netflix.com. DCD RIghts. 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  26. Dark Secrets: Deadly Women. www.investigationdiscovery.com (video). October 30, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
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