FL Grandma Found Guilty Of Leaving Granddaughter In Hot Car

HARDEE COUNTY, FL — A Hardee County grandmother was found guilty this week of leaving her 7-month-old granddaughter in a hot car, resulting in the infant's death, according to multiple reports.

Tracey Nix, 67, was found guilty Wednesday of leaving a child in a vehicle in excess of 15 minutes causing great bodily harm, according to a report by Newsweek. The jury also found her not guilty of aggravated manslaughter in the November 2022 death of Uriel Schock.

"I was relieved to hear that there was going to be accountability and ownership and a conclusion to this part of the story," said Kaila Nix, Uriel's mother and Nix’s daughter.

According to a Scripps News Tampa report, Kaila had asked her mother to babysit Uriel the day the infant died. Reports said Nix went to lunch with friends and forgot Uriel in the backseat of her car after driving to her home in Wauchula.

According to reports, Nix remembered the infant was in the car when her grandson showed up at her house.

Temperatures in Wauchula reached 90 degrees that day, according to a Court TV report. A medical examiner determined Uriel died from hyperthermia as a result of being left in a hot car for several hours.

Uriel was the second grandchild to die in Nix's care, reports said. Three days before Christmas 2021, 16-month-old Ezra, Uriel's brother, drowned in a pond after Nix fell asleep.

Nix will be sentenced in April. She faces up to five years in prison.