Ex-Texas 'Killer Nurse' Genene Jones Pleads Guilty In 1981 Death Of 11-Month-Old
SAN ANTONIO (CBSDFW.COM) - A former Texas nurse suspected in the killing of dozens of children has pleaded guilty in the 1981 death of an 11-month-old boy and was sentenced to life in prison.
In prison since 1984, Genene Jones was convicted for the death of one child and for giving an overdose to another.
The 69-year-old was set to for release from prison in 2018 under a mandatory release law that was in place when she was convicted. But prosecutors in 2017 filed the first of five separate murder charges related to the deaths of children in the early 1980s.
During Jones' time working at a San Antonio hospital and a clinic in Kerrville, northwest of San Antonio, children died of unexplained seizures and other complications.
Prosecutors at Jones' 1984 murder trial said the nurse lethally injected children at the Kerrville clinic to demonstrate the need for a pediatric intensive care unit at a nearby hospital. Other prosecutors theorized that her tactic was to take swift medical action and save some of her victims so she could appear to be a sort of miracle worker.
Prosecutors have said they didn't really know her motivation.