SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood said it has been a priority to find a way to keep "killer nurse" Genene Jones in state prison, with her release scheduled for next year.
Jones was convicted of killing a baby in her care in 1984, but is suspected to be behind the deaths of up to 60 infants.
Scheduled for mandatory release on March 1, 2018, it will have been more than three decades behind bars for Jones.
She is convicted of murdering 15-month-old Chelsea McClellan and nearly killing a 4-month-old boy in the early '80s, but a 1977 law means she's out after serving only a third of her punishment.
LaHood wants to make sure that day of freedom never happens.
"True justice will happen when she stands before the Lord, but on Earth, justice is for that woman to never leave prison," LaHood said.
The District Attorney's Office suspects in a three-year period, Jones was behind the deaths of up to 60 babies under her care in Kerrville and Bexar County, injecting them with powerful drugs.
A grand jury Thursday indicted her for one of them, the 1981 death of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer. If convicted, it could give the 66-year-old another life sentence.
LaHood said this case was once considered unprosecutable, but his office has had a team working on it since 2015.
"Children are precious. That's why it's worth it. Was it easy to put together? Of course it wasn't easy. But if we only did things that were easy, no one would accomplish anything," LaHood said.
LaHood said Sawyer's mother is in shock and is relieved. She had held onto records from all those years ago that she shared with the DA's Office.
"If you had a child, and she murdered your child, and she spent 34 years in prison, would that be justice for you?" LaHood said.
LaHood said he had two investigators serve Jones with a notice of her indictment today at the Gatesville Prison. She will be extradited to Bexar County next year.
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