Trial begins Monday for woman who left...

HARDEE COUNTY, Fla. — A Hardee County grandmother is scheduled to go on trial Monday for leaving her 7-month-old granddaughter in a hot car where the baby died. As the ABC Action News I-Team first revealed nearly two years ago, this is the second grandchild to die under Tracey Nix's care.

Toddler drowns, infant left in hot car less than a year apart at grandma’s house

Wauchula is a small town of less than 5,000 people, where everyone knows everyone. But few can fathom the grief Kaila Nix feels. It was her mother who left her daughter, Uriel, in the backseat in November 2022.
ABC Action News I-Team Reporter Kylie McGivern sat down with Kaila just days ahead of her mother's trial for aggravated manslaughter.

“I think overwhelmed would be probably the very best word I would have," Kaila said of her mindset. "And no matter where this goes, this is not going to be a win for me. This is a lose, lose, lose for me.”

The I-Team first met with Kaila and her now husband, Drew Schock, in the Spring of 2023, three months after their daughter Uriel's death.

“A little girl. How do you forget a little girl?” Schock said in tears.

Kaila had gone to get her hair done that day and had asked her mom, Tracey, 65, to babysit. Temperatures in Wauchula had reached 90 degrees that day. Her mom's Lexus SUV was parked in the yard with the windows rolled up.

When one of Tracey's grandsons arrived, the complaint affidavit said that "all of a sudden," it "came across her head" that Uriel had been in the SUV all afternoon. Her husband, Nun Ney Nix, immediately began CPR.

Tracey, a former school principal in Hardee County, was charged with aggravated manslaughter.

According to the Hardee County Sheriff's Office complaint affidavit, Tracey told a detective that after she drove home from lunch with friends, she "just forgot" about Uriel.

Less than a year earlier, three days before Christmas 2021, 16-month-old Ezra, Uriel's brother, also died while he was at his grandmother Tracey's home. He drowned in a nearby pond.

Uriel and Ezra (1).png — Uriel on the left, and Kaila, Drew and Ezra on the right

At the time, Kaila and Drew never saw the incident report detailing how Ezra drowned the afternoon Tracey fell asleep. A detective wrote that a complaint affidavit for child neglect would be filed and forwarded to the State Attorney's Office for further review.

Kaila said it wasn't until charges were filed against her mother in the death of her daughter Uriel that she learned they had attempted to file charges in her son Ezra's death.

In a statement, the State Attorney's Office told the I-Team,

"In cases involving the accidental drowning of a toddler, Florida appellate courts have stated that a one-time lapse of judgment would not establish culpable negligence of the caretaker. (However, if the caretaker was shown to have repeatedly allowed the toddler access to the water hazard and not taken steps to prevent, that would establish culpable negligence). In the 2021 incident, there was insufficient evidence to establish culpable negligence."

Under the judge's instructions, Ezra's death will not be mentioned during Tracey's aggravated manslaughter trial for Uriel's death.

“Despite the fact that he is not allowed to be entered into this trial, we will have to come to a grip of closure in this circumstance. And so regardless of the outcome, learning to find peace either way is going to be very heavy," Kaila said.

"I feel like if it's a conviction or a plea, then it might be easier for some. But I'm still her daughter. I still will sit down and I will still picture what that looks like for my mom, who is an older lady. And I am grateful to the Lord above that my heart has not turned callous and cold and rigid. There's been years of interviews and court and signs and posts and just reaching and screaming and shouting and begging and pleading to be heard. To have a fair shot at justice for my daughter," Kaila said.

When asked what justice looks like to Kaila, she said ownership.

"A real ownership of what has happened. I want ownership of the incidents that occurred. I don't think I've ever asserted that there was a malicious intent. I don't think I've ever asserted that anyone set out to create this situation. But it did happen," Kaila said.

The I-Team asked Kaila if she wanted her mother to spend any time in prison.

"The mother in me, as I’ve said before, requires justice for my kid. The mother in me requires justice for my daughter. But there is a five-year-old that lives in me still that doesn't want bad things for my mom. I don't want it. I don't want to watch it. I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want anymore hurt," Kaila said.

She continued, "I have thought about not guilty. That is a crushing feeling, because that feeling will be sitting in my husband's heart. That feeling will be felt by my son. It will be a part of my son and my daughter's story. And this has already been so damaging to our family."

Since the I-Team first met with Kaila and Drew, they've welcomed a new baby girl, Adriel, who is four months old.

"When I look at her, it is inescapable to see her brother and her sister. I mean, from most angles, she looks a lot like my son Ezra. When you look at her face, that’s Uri, you know? And there's beautiful things, and there's painful things in that," Kaila said.

Kaila said she is standing up for her daughter.

"I can't give her a bath, I can't take her to school, I can’t dress her. So I can stand up for her. And that's all I'm doing," Kaila said. "I have to live with me when this is done. I have to be able to live with myself. And I can only do that if I stand up for my daughter.”

Jury selection is scheduled to begin on Monday. Kaila said she is prepared to be called as a witness for the prosecution.

The I-Team contacted the state prosecutor and Tracey's defense attorney. Both declined to comment before the trial.

If found guilty, Tracey's attorney said she could be sentenced to between 12 and 30 years in prison.

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