New York Times, July 3, 1942, p.19

NURSE GETS 5 TO 20 YEARS; Sentenced in Bronx for Killing a 20-Hour-Old Baby

Irma Twiss, 32-year-old nurse, of 355 West Fifty-first Street, who killed a twenty-hour-old baby entrusted to her care in the Bronx Maternity and Woman’s Hospital, 165th Street and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx, on Feb. 8 was sentenced yesterday in Bronx County Court to five to twenty years in the Bedford State Prison. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree. Miss Twiss gave several drops of tincture of laudanum to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Castro Valle of 1269 Grand Concourse, killing the infant. She also gave a few drops to the four-day-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Fantagone of 49 East 144th Street, the Bronx, but the baby recovered. She admitted that she gave the drops to the babies in an effort to quiet them because their cries made her nervous.
New York Times, July 3, 1942, p.19

New York Times, June 18, 1942, p.23

GUILTY IN BABY’S DEATH; Nurse Who Gave Fatal Dose to Be Sentenced on July 2

Irma Twiss, 32-year-old nurse, of 355 West Fifty-first Street, pleaded guilty yesterday in Bronx County Court to manslaughter in the first degree in the death of a twenty-hour-old baby on Feb. 8 entrusted to her care in the Bronx Maternity and Woman’s Hospital, 165th Street and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx.

Judge Lester W. Patterson will sentence Miss Twiss on July 2. She can receive from a suspended sentence up to twenty years in jail. The nurse was indicted by the grand jury for first degree murder, but was allowed to change her plea of not guilty to that charge and plead to the lesser charge.

Miss Twiss was the nurse on duty in charge of the infants on Feb. 8 when the babies’ cries unnerved her, she told police. She gave several drops of tincture of laudanum to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Castro Valle of 1269 Grand Concourse. The baby died. She also gave a few drops to the four-day-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Fantagone of 249 East 144th Street, the Bronx, but the infant recovered.

New York Times, June 18, 1942, p.23