Florida grandma sentenced after baby died after being left in hot car – less than a year after her other grandchild died while in her care, family speak out

A Central Florida grandmother has been sentenced following the tragic death of her 7-month-old granddaughter, Uriel Schock, who was left in a hot car for hours on a 90-degree day in November 2022.

The sentencing comes after her 16-month-old grandson, Ezra Schock, also died while under her care. Uriel was born nearly 11 months after Ezra’s tragic death.

Tracey Nix, 67, a retired school principal in Hardee County, was convicted in January of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle causing great bodily harm. She faced up to 30 years in prison but was acquitted of the more serious charge of aggravated manslaughter by a Polk County jury.

On Thursday, April 3, an emotional courtroom in Wauchula, Florida, heard victim impact statements from Uriel’s grieving parents as the family confronted the devastating loss of their second child in less than two years.

Nix, who did not testify during her trial, told the court, “I literally forgot for a long period of time. I’m broken about what happened. I don’t want to leave anyone with the thought that I’m making excuses, because I’m not.”

According to an arrest affidavit cited by Fox 13 Tampa and WFTS, Nix had taken Uriel out to lunch with friends on Nov. 1, 2022.

She returned home around 2:00PM and left the baby strapped in a car seat in the back of her SUV with the windows rolled up. Inside the house, she reportedly spoke to her dog and practiced piano “for a long time,” unaware that Uriel was still in the vehicle.

It wasn’t until approximately 5:00PM — three hours later — that Nix realized the child was still in the car. Her husband found the unresponsive baby and began CPR, but the infant could not be revived.

Investigators later confirmed that Uriel died of hyperthermia. Tragically, the family had already endured a prior loss.

In December 2021, 16-month-old Ezra Schock drowned in a pond near the Nix residence after reportedly opening doors, slipping under a fence, and wandering off while Nix was asleep. She was not criminally charged in that incident, with the State Attorney’s Office citing “insufficient evidence to establish culpable negligence”.

At sentencing, Uriel’s mother, Kaila Nix-Schock, spoke through tears while addressing her mother directly. “I still love you. I hate this,” she said. “I hate that I have to choose, but you know I had to. But it doesn’t change my heart.”

The grieving mom added: “It isn’t about my feeling, it is about what I know.

“And what I know, is that my son drowned on a very cold day in their pond, and he died alone. And I know that my daughter died on a scorching hot afternoon, alone.”