Texas – In a shocking case from Texas, 32-year-old mother J. Jones has been sentenced to 60 years in prison after admitting to poisoning her 4-year-old daughter with dangerous levels of medication. Judge S. Jumes delivered the sentence following Jones’ guilty plea to charges of injury to a child with serious bodily or mental injury and abandoning or endangering a child with reckless criminal negligence in January.
Court documents reveal that Jones frequently took her daughter to the ER, claiming the child had chronic seizures. During each visit, medical tests showed alarmingly high levels of anti-allergy medication in the child’s system, consistent with Benadryl poisoning. Jones later admitted to giving her daughter several adult Benadryl tablets on multiple occasions, despite knowing the risks of such high doses. Benadryl is not recommended for children under six, and Jones’s actions put her daughter at severe risk of seizures, cardiac arrhythmia, breathing difficulties, and even death.
The situation worsened in June 2022 when Jones brought her daughter to the hospital again, claiming seizures. The medical staff, already wary from previous visits, closely monitored the child and conducted frequent urine tests. Each test came back positive for Benadryl. Jones’s behavior raised alarms, particularly because the child’s symptoms worsened after bathroom visits with her mother. Symptoms included full-body tremors, an elevated heart rate, and difficulty standing, all signs of Benadryl poisoning. This prompted doctors to contact the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, leading to an investigation.
When questioned, Jones initially denied giving her daughter any medication but later confessed to administering four or five adult Benadryl tablets on multiple occasions. A search of her purse uncovered empty Benadryl packets and missing pills from bottles of antidepressant Trazodone and antihistamine Hydroxyzine. Jones admitted to giving her daughter one of each pill on two separate occasions.
Jones was arrested over two years ago, but authorities noted that even while out on bond, her troubling behavior continued. Detective M. Weber reported that as recently as July, Jones was caught giving medication to a 12-year-old girl who was not her daughter. The girl testified that Jones, posing as a nurse, administered drugs that caused dizziness. Detective Weber noted that Jones targeted men, becoming romantically involved to gain access to their children.
Throughout the investigation, Jones showed remorse, calling herself a “horrible person” and admitting she needed help. Despite her regret, the gravity of her actions could not be ignored. Authorities suspect Jones may have abused all five of her children in a similar fashion. Despite her pleas for leniency, the judge deemed a long prison sentence essential to prevent further harm. Jones’s estranged husband, Derek Jones, also spoke in court, highlighting the lasting impact on their children, whose childhoods were overshadowed by hospital visits and fabricated illness rather than joyful experiences.