Genene Jones is most certainly America’s most hated female
serial killer – and she is possibly the most hated US serial killer ever.
Because Genene Anne Jones was mobile, moving around Texas to
work in different clinics, authorities expect she may be responsible for as
many as 46 deaths.
An excellent and detailed long-form article appeared early
in the case in Texas Monthly.
[Peter Elkind, “The
Death Shift,” Texas Monthly, Aug. 1983]
***
Wikipedia – Genene Anne Jones (born July 13, 1950) is a former
pediatric nurse who killed somewhere between 11 and 46 infants and children in
her care. She used injections of digoxin, heparin and later succinylcholine to
induce medical crises in her patients, with the intention of reviving them
afterward in order to receive praise and attention.
These medications are known to cause heart paralysis and
other complications when given as an overdose. Many children however, did not
survive the initial attack and could not be revived. The exact number of
murders remain unknown, as hospital officials allegedly first misplaced then
destroyed records of her activities to prevent further litigation after Jones'
first conviction.
While working at the Bexar County Hospital (now The
University Hospital of San Antonio) in the Pediatric Intensive care unit, it
was determined that a statistically inordinate number of children Jones worked
with were dying. Rather than pursue further investigation the hospital simply
asked Jones to resign, which she did.
She then took a position at a pediatric physician's clinic
in Kerrville, Texas, near San Antonio. It was here that she was charged with
poisoning six children. The doctor in the office discovered puncture marks in a
bottle of succinylcholine in the drug storage, where only she and Jones had
access. Contents of the apparently full bottle were later found to be diluted. Jones
claimed to have been acting in the best interests of her patients, as she was
trying to justify the need for a pediatric intensive-care unit in Kerrville.
This act was not a successful means of achieving her goal.
~ 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.
As of May 2016, Jones was held at the Lane Murray Unit of
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. She had been scheduled for mandatory
release in 2018 due to a Texas law meant to prevent prison overcrowding. To
avoid this, Jones was indicted on May 25, 2017, for the murder of 11-month-old
Joshua Sawyer. 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 avoid her release. In April 2018, a
judge in San Antonio denied a request to dismiss five new murder indictments
against Jones. On 16 January 2020, Jones pleaded guilty to the murder of
11-month-old Joshua Sawyer on 12 December 1981 as part of a plea deal in which
four other charges were dropped. She was sentenced to life in prison. She won't
be eligible for parole until she's roughly 87 years old.
~ Popular Culture ~
She was portrayed by Susan Ruttan in the television movie
Deadly Medicine (1991) and by Alicia Bartya in the straight-to-video movie Mass
Murder (film) (2002). She was also featured in a Discovery Channel documentary,
Lethal Injection, and was said to have inspired Annie Wilkes from Stephen
King's Misery.
Wikipedia.org
***
CHRONOLOGY
Jul. 13, 1950 – Genene Anne Jones born.
Jul. 1981 – Richard Nelson (8
mo.) murdered (Jones indicted Jun. 29, 2017)
Sep. 16, 1981 – Rosemary
Vega (2 yr) dies. (June
21, 2017: Jones indicted)
Sep.
24, 1981 – murder of 4-month-old Paul Villarreal (4 mo.). (Oct. 31, 2017: Jones
indicted)
Oct. 10, 1981: Jose
Antonio Flores, six months and three days old, died in the ICU at 5:22 p.m.
Admitted on October 6 for fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration, he
developed seizures during his third day in the pediatric ward and was taken to
the hospital basement for a brain scan.
Dec. 12, 1981 – Joshua
Sawyer (11 mo) murdered.
Dec. 22, 1981 – Doraelia Rios (25 mo), died at 8:12 p.m. She
had been hospitalized several times previously for gastrointestinal surgery,
and she entered the hospital again on Dec. 21, suffering from diarrhea,
dehydration, and possible inflammation of an internal membrane.
Jan. 9, 1982: 4-week-old Rolando Santos is injected with the
blood thinner heparin at Medical Center Hospital.
Jan. 17, 1982 – Patrick Zavala (4 mo.) dies. (Jones indicted Jun.
29, 2017)
Sep. 17, 1982 – Chelsea McClellan (15 mo.) murdered. (b Jun.
16, 1981).
Aug. 27 1982 – Brandy Lee Benites (1 mo.) survived attack by
Jones.
Aug. 30, 1982 – Christopher Parker (4 mo.) survived attack
by Jones.
Sep. 3,
1982 – Misty Reichenau (21 mo.), survived attack by Jones.
Sep. 23, 1982 – Rolinda Ruff (5 mo.), survived
drugging by Jones.
Oct. 21, 1982 – Jimmy Pearson (7 yr.) dies.
Nov. 21, 1982 – Jones was indicted in San Antonio, on
charges of injuring four-week-old Rolando Santos by deliberately injecting him
with heparin, an anticoagulant, in January 1982. Santos had been undergoing
treatment for pneumonia when he suffered "spontaneous" hemorrhaging,
but physicians managed to save his life.
Feb. 1983 – a special grand jury convened in San Antonio,
Texas, investigating the "suspicious" deaths of 47 children at Bexar
County's Medical Center Hospital over the past four years.
Feb. 15, 1984 – Jones sentenced to 90 years in prison.
Mar. 1984 – Jones suspected in at least ten other homicides,
Jones was spared further prosecution when Bexar County hospital administrators
shredded 9,000 pounds of pharmaceutical records in March
1984, destroying numerous pieces of evidence then under subpoena by the
local grand jury.
Oct. 24, 1984 – Jones sentenced to concurrent 60 years term.
1985 – Jones was sentenced to 99 years in prison for killing
15-month-old Chelsea McClellan with succinylcholine.
May 25, 2017 – indicted for the murder of 11-month-old
Joshua Sawyer.
Apr. 2018, a judge in San Antonio denied a request to
dismiss five new murder indictments against Jones.
Jan. 16, 2020 – Jones pleaded guilty to the murder of
11-month-old Joshua Sawyer on Dec. 12, 1981 as part of a plea deal in which
four other charges were dropped.
[119-1/5/21]
***
No comments:
Post a Comment