Survivor of 'Killer Nurse' opposes her planned release

Rolando Santos injected with blood-thinning agent at 4 weeks old by Genene Jones

SAN ANTONIO – Nurse Genene Jones, one of Texas' most infamous child killers, is serving a 99-year prison term for murder.

But she is scheduled for mandatory release from prison in 2018 after serving just over a third of her sentence.

Laws enacted at the time to ease prison overcrowding allowed prisoners to get "good time" credit for good behavior.

In 1984, Jones was convicted of murdering 15-month-old Chelsea McLellan by injecting her with a lethal dose of succinylcholine, a powerful muscle relaxant.

She was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

A few months later, Jones was convicted of injury to a child for injecting 4-week-old Rolando Santos (pictured at present day at bottom) with a lethal dose of heparin, a blood-thinning agent.

She was sentenced to 60 years in prison to run concurrently with her sentence in the McLellan case.

Santos says his mother seldom talked about his ordeal.

Pointing to a tiny scar on his wrist, he said, "She didn't want to tell me what it was -- she just said I fell."

As he grew older, Santos said she talked more about his near-death ordeal.

"She told me I passed away three times," he said. "And that I was in a lot of pain."

Santos said his mother told him he was a survivor and a miracle child.

Former Bexar County District Attorney Sam Millsap, whose office prosecuted Jones, said, "He just bled from every orifice in his body."

Though he said he understands that the law dictates Jones' release, it troubles him.

"She really is somebody that should be there for a long time," Millsap said. "Two life-sentences, if possible."

Santos, too, struggles with Jones' impending release.

"I don't think she should come out because she killed a lot of babies," Santos said. "I think something like that deserves the death penalty."

Jones is suspected of killing between 11 and 46 infants and children while working at San Antonio's Bexar County Hospital in the early 1980s.

But medical records that were accidently destroyed made it impossible to prove their suspicions, according to Millsap.

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About the Author:

Paul Venema is a courthouse reporter for KSAT with more than 25 years experience in the role.