Suspected Child Serial Killer Set To Be Released Early From Prison Unless Prosecutors Can Find Other Victims
Genene Jones, now 63, was convicted in 1984 of the murder of a 15-month-old child in her care at a pediatric clinic in Texas where Jones worked as a nurse.
She is suspected of killing 11 to 46 infants total between 1978 and 1982, but has only been convicted on charges relating to the death of the 15-month-old and an attack on another child, who survived.
Jones was sentenced to 159 years in prison for the crimes, but is scheduled for release around 2018 after serving just 35 years of that sentence. This is based on a Texas mandatory release law, enacted in 1977, that says all convicted criminals must be automatically released after a certain amount of time has passed and the prisoner completes "good conduct time" participating in work and self-improvement programs, ABC News reports.
The law has since been amended to exclude violent criminals, but it still applies to anyone convicted of any crime before 1987.
Petti McClellan, the mother of the 15-month-old victim, is now trying to find other victims of Jones so that prosecutors can convict her again and keep her behind bars.
The problem is, most records tied to the suspected murder cases have either been lost or destroyed.
Jones is suspected of killing dozens of infants by injecting them with drugs that would bring on medical emergencies leading to the child's death. Nurses at the clinic where Jones was employed eventually noticed a pattern of children dying during shifts Jones worked.
Jones reportedly inspired the 1987 Stephen King novel "Misery," which is about a writer who is held captive by a crazed nurse. Rob Reiner, who directed the movie based on the book, said Jones was the inspiration behind King's nurse character.