Trending
Former Texas nurse accused of killing dozens of kids in '80s
DALLAS (AP) -- A Texas nurse who is in prison for the 1982 killing of a toddler has been charged with murder in the death of an infant a year earlier, and authorities said Friday that they think she may have killed up to 60 young children around that time.
Genene Jones, 66, has been serving concurrent sentences at a prison in Gatesville for two 1984 convictions: a 99-year prison term for murder in the 1982 death of 15-month-old Chelsea McClelland, who was given a fatal injection of a muscle relaxant, and a 60-year term for giving 4-week-old Rolando Santos a large injection of the blood-thinner Heparin, which he survived.
On Thursday, the Bexar County district attorney's office announced that Jones has been charged in the 1981 death of 11-month-old Joshua Sawyer, who investigators say died of a fatal overdose of an anti-seizure drug, Dilantin. Jones was working as a nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit at Bexar County Hospital, which is now University Hospital.
During Jones' time working in hospitals and clinics in San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas, children died of unexplained seizures and other complications.
At a news conference Friday in San Antonio, District Attorney Nico LaHood said investigators believe Jones may have killed some or all of those children because they died under unusual circumstances during or shortly after her shifts.
"She's been suspected in dozens of infant deaths and she's only been held accountable in one," he said.
It's not clear why Jones' actions, involving so many suspected victims, were not detected earlier. But Sam Millsap, a previous district attorney in Bexar County, told KSAT-TV in 2013 that medical records at the San Antonio hospital at one point were accidently destroyed, hampering efforts by investigators to prove their suspicions.
Chelsea McClelland died after receiving an injection at a clinic in Kerrville, northwest of San Antonio, and prosecutors at Jones' 1984 murder trial said the nurse lethally injected children there to demonstrate the need for a pediatric intensive care unit at a nearby hospital.
Other prosecutors theorized that Jones' tactic was to take swift medical action and save some of her victims, making herself appear to be a sort of miracle worker.
LaHood said the new murder charge is based on fresh evidence that came to light and a review of old evidence. He also said the deaths of some of the other children are being re-examined and that additional charges could be coming.
Former professor arrested in beatings at California rally
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A former San Francisco Bay Area college professor has been arrested for allegedly beating at least three people during violent clashes between supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump last month, police said Friday.
Eric Clanton, 28, was arrested Wednesday in Oakland for assault with a deadly weapon in connection with using a U-shaped bike lock in the beatings, Berkeley Police Lt. Dan Montgomery said. He surrendered without incident, police said.
Clanton remained in custody Friday in lieu of $200,000 bail, according to Alameda County online jail records.
It was unclear Friday if Clanton has an attorney, and Alameda County Deputy Public Defender Jeff Chorney said his office is not representing Clanton.
Videos posted on social media helped police identify Clanton as a suspect in the violent assaults on April 15 at a downtown Berkeley park, said Montgomery.
"People in the community were upset by what they saw, and we received tips about the incident," Montgomery said.
Three people who have come forward were severely injured, including one with a head injury, he said. But Clanton is suspected of beating multiple people that day and police hope additional victims will come forward.
Montgomery said Friday that he did not know the conditions of those injured.
The violent clashes came after Trump supporters announced a "Patriot Day" rally at the park featuring speeches by members of the alt-right, an amorphous fringe movement that promotes racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny and xenophobia.
Counter-demonstrators then announced a rally at the same place.
Nineteen adults and a 17-year girl were arrested that day, Montgomery said. The charges they face include battery, resisting arrest, assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and inciting a riot.
Bullet tests clear Detroit man in prison since 1992
DETROIT (AP) -- Declaring "justice prevailed," a Michigan man walked out of prison for the first time in 25 years, freed after new tests showed that the bullets presented as evidence at his trial weren't the ones taken from the body of the victim.
Desmond Ricks, 51, met his legal team before leaving the western Michigan prison, the culmination of a remarkable effort to clear himself in a fatal shooting outside a Detroit burger joint in 1992.
The Innocence Clinic at University of Michigan law school asked Judge Richard Skutt to reopen the case after prosecutors in 2015 turned over photos of two bullets removed from the victim, Gerry Bennett. The bullets were in poor shape and didn't resemble the pristine bullets that were presented as evidence by Detroit police in 1992.
Police at that time said a gun belonging to Ricks' mother was the murder weapon, but new tests ruled out any connection, Innocence Clinic director David Moran said.
One of the bullets doesn't match the gun and the other was too mutilated for a thorough analysis, he said.
"I'm not bitter. I'm not angry. I'm just relieved," Ricks told The Associated Press after eating his first meal since getting out, a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich. "Justice prevailed. … I want to get a job. I want to pay taxes. I just want to be a normal citizen."
Skutt threw out Ricks' second-degree murder conviction on Friday after the Wayne County prosecutor's office agreed it should be erased. A second trial seems highly unlikely. Spokeswoman Maria Miller said a decision about whether to completely dismiss the case will be discussed in court on June 1.