Genene Jones: ‘Angel Of Death’ Who Killed Up To 40 Infants Set To Go Free In 2017, New Effort Underway To Keep Her In Prison

Genene Jones killed as many as 40 infants in the 1980s and was sentenced to serve 99 years for her crime, but the serial killer known as the “Angel of Death” is set to walk free in less than four years due to overcrowding in Texas prisons.

Jones, who has been denied parole several times, is set to be released in February, 2018 due to a now-overturned prison overcrowding law.

But a new effort is being raised to keep the convicted serial killer in prison, one made even more difficult by a cover-up from the hospital where she worked.

The 65-year-old woman is suspected of murdering dozens of infants during her time as a nurse by injecting them with a combination of drugs that sent them into medical distress, but a lack of evidence allowed her to only be convicted of one murder and another attempted murder. She was sentenced to 99 years in prison, but that was reduced to one-third of that time due to Texas sentencing laws.

CNN explains:

The Mandatory Release law allows inmates convicted of violent crimes between 1977 and 1987 to be automatically released if their “good behavior” credit plus their time served equals their sentence. The law was changed in 1987 to exclude violent criminals, but it isn’t retroactive.

Interest in Genene Jones has remained high, with her parole hearing earlier making national news. Many have been following her closely, counting down the time until she will be released.

Experts say her case will set a precedent in the United States.

“She’s probably going to be the first serial killer in this country’s history to be legally released,” Andy Kahan, a Houston crime victim advocate told KHOU-TV.

But now there is an effort to keep Genene Jones behind bars. Petti McClellan-Wiese, the mother of one of the infants killed, has joined Andy Kahan, a victim’s advocate for the city of Houston, to find other mothers whose infants were killed by Jones. If they are able to find new evidence and bring one of the other cases against Jones to court, she could be re-sentenced and spend life behind bars.

But the effort will not be easy. When the infant deaths were uncovered, officials at Bexar County Medical Center dumped and shredded 9,000 pounds of documents related to the deaths. Officials were not able to charge Genene Jones with any more crimes.

This same kind of effort being attempted to keep Genene Jones behind bars has worked before. When admitted serial killer Coral Watts was to be released in 2006, a massive public campaign was launched that led to a new witness coming forward. Watts was convicted of another murder, and remained in prison until he died in 2007.