Genene Anne Jones (born July 13, 1950) is an American

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

, responsible for the deaths of up to 60 infants and children in her care as a

licensed vocational nurse A licensed practical nurse (LPN), in much of the United States and Canada, is a nurse who provides direct nursing care for people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled. In the United States, LPNs work under the direction of physician ...

during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984, Jones was convicted of murder and injury to a child. She had used injections of

digoxin Digoxin (better known as digitalis), sold under the brand name Lanoxin among others, is a medication used to treat various heart disease, heart conditions. Most frequently it is used for atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, and heart failure. ...

heparin Heparin, also known as unfractionated heparin (UFH), is a medication and naturally occurring glycosaminoglycan. Heparin is a blood anticoagulant that increases the activity of antithrombin. It is used in the treatment of myocardial infarction, ...

, and later

succinylcholine Suxamethonium chloride (brand names Scoline and Sucostrin, among others), also known as suxamethonium or succinylcholine, or simply sux in medical abbreviation, is a medication used to cause short-term paralysis as part of general anesthesia. T ...

to induce medical crises in her patients, causing numerous deaths. The exact number of victims remains unknown; hospital officials allegedly misplaced and then destroyed records of Jones' activities, to prevent further litigation after Jones' first conviction.

Early life and marriages

Jones was adopted by a nightclub owner and his wife. She worked as a beautician before attending nursing school in the late 1970s. Jones was married to her high school sweetheart between 1968 and 1974, and they had one child during that time. The relationship ended in divorce. Three years later Jones and her husband reconciled and had another child together in 1977. Just before her indictment, she married a 19-year-old nursing assistant. He filed for divorce a short time later.

Career and background

While Jones worked as a

(LVN) at the Bexar County Hospital (now University Hospital of San Antonio) in the

pediatric intensive care unit A pediatric intensive care unit (also paediatric), usually abbreviated to PICU (), is an area within a hospital specializing in the care of critically ill infants, children, teenagers, and young adults aged 0–21. A PICU is typically directed by ...

, a statistically improbable number of children died under her care. Because the hospital feared being sued, it simply asked all of its LVNs, including Jones, to resign and staffed the pediatric ICU exclusively with

registered nurse A registered nurse (RN) is a healthcare professional who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized ...

s. No further investigation was pursued by the hospital. Jones left and took a position at a

pediatrician Pediatrics (American English) also spelled paediatrics (British English), is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, pediatrics covers many of their youth ...

's clinic in

Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in Texas, and the county seat of Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr, a major in the Texas Revolution, and friend of settler-fo ...

, some 60 miles northwest of

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

. It was here that she was charged with poisoning six children. The doctor in the office discovered two puncture marks in a bottle of succinylcholine (

Suxamethonium chloride Suxamethonium chloride (brand names Scoline and Sucostrin, among others), also known as suxamethonium or succinylcholine, or simply sux in medical abbreviation, is a medication used to cause short-term paralysis as part of general anesthesia. T ...

) in the drug storage, where only she and Jones had access. Succinylcholine is a powerful short-acting paralytic that causes temporary paralysis of all skeletal muscles, as well as those that control breathing; the drug is used as a part of a

general anesthetic General anaesthetics (or anesthetics) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma that causes lack of aware ...

. A patient cannot breathe while under the influence of this drug. In small children,

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

is the ultimate result of

deoxygenation Deoxygenation is a chemical reaction involving the removal of oxygen atoms from a molecule. The term also refers to the removal of molecular oxygen (O2) from gases and solvents, a step in air-free technique and gas purifiers. As applied to orga ...

due to lack of respiration. Contents of the apparently full bottle were later found to be Anectine (one trade name of succinylcholine chloride) but whose volume was five-sixth diluted with saline solution. Jones claimed she was trying to stimulate the creation of a pediatric intensive care unit in Kerrville.

Prosecution

In 1985, Jones was originally sentenced to 99 years in prison for killing 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan with succinylcholine. She was subsequently charged with harming Brandy Benites on August 27, Chris Parker and Jimmy Pearson on August 30, Misty Reichenau on September 3, Jacob Evans on September 17, All indictments charged that the nurse “intentionally and knowingly” injured the children by injecting them with succinylcholine or some other drug. Later that year, she was sentenced to a concurrent term of 60 years in prison for nearly killing Rolando Santos with

. As of May 2016, Jones was held at the Lane Murray Unit of the

Texas Department of Criminal Justice The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) is a department of the government of the U.S. state of Texas. The TDCJ is responsible for statewide criminal justice for adult offenders, including managing offenders in state prisons, state jails ...

. She had been scheduled for mandatory release in 2018 due to a Texas law meant to prevent

prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in a prison exceeds the capacity for Prisoner, prisoners. By country Egypt Amnesty International reported on 25 January 2021 the abuse of prisoners in Egypt not onl ...

. 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 prevent her release. In April 2018, a judge in San Antonio denied a request to dismiss five new murder indictments against Jones. On January 16, 2020, Jones pleaded guilty to the murder of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer on December 12, 1981, as part of a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

in which four other charges were dropped. She was sentenced to life in prison. She will not be eligible for parole until she is roughly 87 years old, .

In popular culture

Horror writer

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

has stated in interviews the antagonist of his standalone novel '' Misery'',

Annie Wilkes Annie Wilkes is a character originating from Stephen King's 1987 novel '' Misery'', in which she acts as one of the two central characters and main antagonist. In 2022, King picked her as his personal favorite character among all those he created ...

, takes inspiration in part from Jones. Wilkes is a retired nurse who has a long history of serial murder, including of infants when she was pediatric nurse, before she holds severely injured, struggling writer Paul Sheldon captive in her cabin. The actress who portrayed her in the film adaptation,

Kathy Bates Kathleen Doyle Bates (born June 28, 1948) is an American actress. Kathy Bates filmography, Her work spans over five decades, and List of awards and nominations received by Kathy Bates, her accolades include an Academy Awards, Academy Award, t ...

, is widely acclaimed for her performance in the role, for which she earned the 1990

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It has been awarded since the 1st Academy Awards to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a lead ...

. Jones was portrayed by

Susan Ruttan Susan Ruttan (Born Susan Diane Dunrud; September 16, 1948) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne Melman on ''L.A. Law'' (1986–1993), for which she was nominated four times for a Primetime Emmy Award. Early years A n ...

in the television movie '' Deadly Medicine'' (1991) and by Alicia Bartya in the straight-to-video movie ''Mass Murder'' (2002). She was also featured in a

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, ''Lethal Injection;'' ''

Forensic Files ''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origin ...

'' season five episode ten entitled ''Nursery Crimes''; a season one episode of the British docuseries ''Nurses Who Kill'' (2016); as well as "Dark Secrets," an episode of the

Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...

series ''

Deadly Women ''Deadly Women'' is an American true crime documentary television series produced by Beyond International Group and airing on the Investigation Discovery (ID) Television, network. The series focuses on murders committed by women. It is hosted ...

''.

References

External links