Jailed Texas nurse may have killed dozens of young children

DALLAS — A Texas nurse who is in prison for the 1982 killing of a toddler has been charged in the death of an infant a year earlier, and authorities said Friday that they think she may have killed up to 60 young children around that time.

Genene Jones, 66, is serving concurrent 99-year and 60-year sentences at a Gatesville prison for the 1982 killing of 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan and the sickening of a 4-week-old boy who survived. The girl was given a fatal injection of a muscle relaxant, and the boy received a large injection of a blood thinner.

Jones was due to be freed in March 2018 under a mandatory release law that was in place when she was convicted. But on Thursday, the Bexar County district attorney’s office announced that she has been charged in the 1981 death of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer, who investigators say died of a fatal overdose of an anti-seizure drug, Dilantin.

During Jones’ time working in hospitals and clinics in San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas, children died of unexplained seizures and other complications.

At a news conference Friday in San Antonio, District Attorney Nico LaHood said investigators believe Jones may have killed some or all of those children because they died under unusual circumstances during or shortly after her shifts.

“She’s been suspected in dozens of infant deaths and she’s only been held accountable in one,” he said.

It’s not clear why Jones’ actions were not detected earlier. But Sam Millsap, a previous district attorney in Bexar County, told KSATTV in 2013 that medical records at the San Antonio hospital were accidentally destroyed, hampering efforts by investigators.

Chelsea died after receiving an injection at Kerrville clinic, and prosecutors at Jones’ 1984 trial said Jones lethally injected children there to demonstrate the need for a pediatric intensive care unit at a nearby hospital. Other prosecutors theorized that Jones’ tactic was to take swift medical action and save some of her victims, making herself appear to be a miracle worker.