A Mother's Nightmare! Killer Nurse On Brink Of Going Free Due To Legal Loophole
A Texas nurse believed to have killed at least 60 children during a five-year murder spree could soon be set free due to a legal quirk, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively.
Genene Jones — one of America's most notorious serial killers — has spent nearly 40 years behind bars. But she is due for release in March, as laws aimed at easing prison overcrowding slashed her 99-year and concurrent 60-year sentences in half!
Now, authorities are scrambling to nail the 67-year-old baby killer for more unspeakable crimes, to keep her behind bars. But lawmen admit it won't be easy — and getting her convicted the first time was touch-and-go, too.
Jones' lethal spree began in April 1981 at San Antonio's Bexar County Medical Center, where 42 infants and children died during a 15-month span.
A co-worker eventually realized 34 of the kids died during the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. rotation, which workers began calling "the death shift."
She then discovered that one nurse was working the rotation during all of the deaths. That nurse was Jones — who was subsequently suspected of administering fatal drug injections to the children.
Since the hospital had no proof, they had to let Jones go — with a glowing recommendation — even as their internal probe noted "sudden and unexplained" complications in ten deaths and concluded: "This association of Nurse Jones with the deaths of the ten children could be coincidental. However, negligence or wrongdoing cannot be excluded."
Jones then went to work at a nearby children's clinic in Kerrville.
After six children were poisoned, a doctor discovered Jones had been taking out doses of succinylcholine, a muscle paralyzer that stops breathing.
In 1984, Jones was convicted and sentenced to 99 years for murdering 15-month-old clinic patient Chelsea McClellan with a shot of succinylcholine.
She was also convicted and sentenced to 60 years for attempting to kill month-old Rolando Santos with a shot of the blood thinner heparin, while at the Bexar ICU.
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At the time, District Attorney Sam Millsap refused to attempt to convict her of any more of the dozens of suspected murders.
"There will be no additional indictments of Genene Jones," he said. "No useful purpose would be served. I think she will spend the rest of her life in jail."
But now, Assistant D.A. Jason Gross and his team are scrambling to find new cases to keep the she-devil behind bars.
"Everybody wants to make this baby killer accountable," he says.
On Dec. 7, Jones was hauled into court and charged with five more murders. She pleaded not guilty to all of them.
She's being held on a $1-million bond at Bexar County Jail, but will be released in March if she posts bail.
"We are eager to take these cases to trial and hold Ms. Jones accountable," Bexar County D.A. Nico Hood tells RadarOnline.com. exclusively. "The families of these young children have been waiting for this moment for close to 35 years."
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