By: Undria Wilson
A Texas nurse jailed for the early killing a baby girl in the early 1980s has been accused in another child’s death, and officials believe she may be behind the deaths of as many as 60 children who died around that time.
According to insideedition.com, Genene Jones, 66, is serving concurrent 99-year and 60-year sentences for the deaths of 15-month old Chelsea McClellan, who was given a lethal injection of a muscle relaxant, and the sickening of 4-week-old Rolando Santos, who nearly died after ingesting a dangerous dose of the blood thinner, Heparin, authorities reported.
Jones was set to be released in March under a mandatory release law. But on Thursday, the Bexar County district attorney announced that Jones had been charged in the death of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer, who died of a fatal overdose of an anti-seizure drug, Dilantin.
Jones was working as a nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit in what was formerly known as the Bexar County Hospital, where little Joshua died on December 12, 1981.
Joshua had entered the ICU in a coma and experiencing seizures after suffering severe smoke inhalation during an explosion and fire at his family’s home, but the child’s condition eventually improved. But four hours later, his heart began beating rapidly and he died the next day, under Jones’ care.
During Jones’ time as a nurse at Bexar County Hospital, 42 children died in the eight-bed pediatric ICU from April 1981 and June 1982, according to Peter Elkind, author of “The Death Shift: Nurse Genene Jones and the Texas Baby Murders.”
Jones was ultimately convicted of a single charge of murder for Chelsea’s death.
The newest charge against Jones comes after District Attorney Nico LaHood assembled a task force in 2015 to investigate Jones, who he said is suspected of killing up to 60 infants.
Jones was “emotional” when she was served with an arrest warrant Thursday, LaHood said.
Jones is currently incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Lane Murray Unit in Gatesville. Because of the new charge, she will be transferred to the Bexar County Jail and held on a $1 million bond while the case is prosecuted.
