Grandmother sentenced after baby left in hot car dies less than a year after another grandchild died while in her care
A Florida grandmother received a five-year prison sentence after her baby granddaughter died tragically in a hot vehicle while under her supervision. Tracey Nix was caring for seven-month-old Uriel Schock on November 1, 2022, and took the infant to dine with companions. Surveillance video captured the grandmother securing the baby in her car seat around 1:40pm before making the brief ten-minute trip to her Wauchula residence. Upon arrival, she parked the vehicle with windows closed, then went inside to interact with her pet and practice piano. Sadly, Uriel perished inside the sweltering car, with WFTS noting temperatures had climbed to 90 degrees that November afternoon. When Nix realized she had abandoned Uriel in the dangerously hot vehicle, her husband attempted CPR, but investigators determined the infant died from hyperthermia.
In her statement to law enforcement, Nix admitted she had "just forgotten" about the baby. "The defendant explained she parked the vehicle in the yard and forgot the victim occupied the back seat, then proceeded inside the house to speak with her dog and practice piano for an 'extended period' because she had an upcoming piano lesson on Thursday," according to the affidavit. "The defendant claimed she didn't have 'anything particular' on her mind, and it wasn't like 'I was hurrying into the house for any reason... I simply forgot.'"
This dreadful event occurred less than twelve months after 16-month-old Ezra Schock, another grandchild of Nix, drowned while in her care after she fell asleep. The young child wandered beneath a fence near the grandparents' property and ended up in a pond. Nix was previously convicted of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle causing serious bodily harm, but was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter—a charge that could have resulted in up to 30 years imprisonment.
Nix received a five-year sentence after declining to testify in court, while acknowledging she didn't realize her granddaughter remained in the vehicle. She stated: "I completely forgot for an extended time. I'm devastated about what happened. I don't want anyone thinking I'm creating excuses, because I'm not."
Kaila Nix-Schock addressed her mother directly during sentencing, having lost two children because of Nix's actions. "I still love you. I hate this," Nix-Schock said tearfully, according to Fox 13 Tampa reports. "I hate that I must choose, but you know I had to."
But it doesn't alter my feelings." After delivering the sentence, Judge Brandon Rafool remarked: "Uriel isn't an isolated case. I don't think she's displaying remorse; I believe she's expressing sorrow."
