A 65-year-old grandmother from Florida is facing charges of aggravated manslaughter after she left her seven-month-old granddaughter in her SUV for several hours last November. The incident occurred as temperatures soared into the 90s, and the young girl was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, Tracy Nix told investigators that she “forgot” Uriel was in the car after returning home for lunch. Nix then went about her day until 4:30 in the afternoon, when she went outside, moved her car to the backyard, and spent about ten minutes talking to her husband. It was at this point that she remembered that Uriel was in the car.
Tragically, this is not the first time that one of Nix’s grandchildren died while in her care. In 2021, she was supposed to be watching her 16-month-old grandson Ezra, but she fell asleep. During that time, the boy left the house and drowned in a nearby lake.
Kaila, Nix’s daughter, who was six months pregnant at the time of the incident, was involved in a head-on crash with another vehicle as she rushed to her parents’ house upon hearing the news. Now, Kaila and her husband, Drew, want to see Nix behind bars. “You couldn’t fathom it happening twice,” Drew told WFTS. “Somebody has to answer for that.”
If convicted, Nix faces up to 30 years in prison. Kaila said, “If I’m objective — she needs to go to prison. As her daughter, it kills me to say it. As their mother, I demand it. I will fight for them.” The case is ongoing, and Nix has not yet entered a plea.
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