FL - Tracey Nix, two of her grandchildren died in her care in separate incidents (7mo in hot car Nov '22 & 16mo drowned Dec '21)

[Hoosgirl]

So where was the husband in all this? I know that when the first child died, he was out at Walmart, but this time, was he in the house the whole time or part of the time? I would think he would ask, having already lost a grandbaby, questions like "Where's Uriel?" and "What room did you put Uriel in?" and that he'd be watching DW like a hawk to make sure it didn't happen again.

I'm curious about that as well. I haven't yet found the arrest affidavit to see the exact narrative, but news has reported that she talked to him in the backyard when she moved her car at some point. And that when she finally remembered the baby, he gave CPR.

Very strange.

 

[Allabouttrial]

I'm curious about that as well. I haven't yet found the arrest affidavit to see the exact narrative, but news has reported that she talked to him in the backyard when she moved her car at some point. And that when she finally remembered the baby, he gave CPR.

Very strange.

Scroll down on this article and you'll find the affidavit.

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

One family. Two kids. Their deaths — both while in their grandmother Tracey's care. Hardee County grandmother charged after forgetting infant in a hot car.

www.abcactionnews.com

 

[Hoosgirl]

Scroll down on this article and you'll find the affidavit.

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

One family. Two kids. Their deaths — both while in their grandmother Tracey's care. Hardee County grandmother charged after forgetting infant in a hot car.

www.abcactionnews.com

Thank you, I did see that one, but it's for the drowning death. The article references an arrest affidavit for the hot car death that she was arrested for, but I haven't been able to find that one. TIA if anyone can find!

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

I wonder....

Did Grandma fear she would be called upon to raise the grands one day?
Did Grandma despise her daughter's husband?
Did Grandma do (or say) anything else out of the ordinary either of the days the kids died?
Was the children's mother prone to leaving the kids far longer than she (as the babysitter) expected?

I'm just wondering where her head was, and how she might've felt or thought about the kids.

Of course, if she's in the early stages of dementia, that's a whole 'nother thing....

 

[ex-stat]

I wonder if the redacted medications are benzodiazepines, from the description.

I don't like the inconsistencies in the legal documents. TN and her husband give different accounts. There are a lot of things in there that I personally find disturbing - in both events. Not going to list them out here but the link provided earlier in the thread has a lot of information. The accounts are off.

Regarding the changing pyjamas, it sounds like her husband told her to as EMS were arriving. I know some people are funny about strangers seeing them in pyjamas and may default to that kind of behaviour. I remember reading of an incident when someone's husband had a heart attack and she made the bed before taking him to the hospital. She was in shock. It does weird things to people. That is one POSSIBLE explanation (of a few). But the other stuff is inexcusable (and there is a lot of it).

 

[IDK]

According to the court website, there is a pending motion to allow her to leave the county (her bail restricts this) to receive 30 days of mental health treatment. The motion says she was Baker Act'ed on the day of the incident for 2 weeks at the Peace River Center.

ONLINE COURT RECORDS SEARCH

Unfortunately the file attachment is not allowing me to upload the PDF of the motion ... maybe someone else would have luck.

According to their website:
Peace River Center’s licensed and accredited inpatient receiving facilities also known as Crisis Stabilization Units are located in Bartow and Lakeland. The CSU offers short-term, intensive, psychiatric stabilization, evaluation, and discharges planning services to individuals in need of emergency treatment. These secure units provide individuals under Florida’s Baker Act (mental health commitment law) with services including group counseling, medication management, recovery education, discharge planning, referrals, and family education. Individuals are assessed and may be admitted voluntarily or involuntarily until the mental health emergency is stabilized and continuing care referrals are made. The average length of stay from time of admission to discharge is typically less than four days; however, there are exceptions.

Crisis Services - Peace River Center

Peace River Center has multiple ways for individuals to access our 24-hour crisis services including via phone, walk-ins and mobile response.

www.peacerivercenter.org

I wonder if this is something ( being Baker Acted) that was requested by her defense attorney or if she exhibited bizarre behavior after being arrested?

“The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment), which can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians, or mental health professionals and close friends and relatives. There must be evidence that the person:

possibly has a mental illness.
is in danger of becoming a harm to self or harm to others, or is self-neglectful.
Both of these are defined in the Baker Act.”

Baker Act - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It definitely seems that something is very wrong. I looked at her FB page and looks like she had been a very loving and devoted grandparent to previous grandchildren….

 

[IDK]

Here it is:

https://www.websleuths.com/forums/attachments/docketimage56-pdf.412632/

“The Defendant is suffering from major emotional/mental health issues.
The Defendant was Baker Acted on November 1, 2022 and remained at Peace River Center for fourteen (14) days.
The Defendant has an inpatient mental health facility available to treat her. A copy of the letter accepting her into this facility is attached hereto as "Exhibit A". The treatment would be for approximately thirty (30)days.
The Defendant's Pre-Trial Release prohibits her from leaving the county.
Wherefore, the Defendant respectfully moves this Honorable Court to allow her to receive mental health treatment at the Blackberry Center.”
Electronically Filed

 

[Hoosgirl]

I wonder if this is something ( being Baker Acted) that was requested by her defense attorney or if she exhibited bizarre behavior after being arrested?

“The Baker Act allows for involuntary examination (what some call emergency or involuntary commitment), which can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officials, physicians, or mental health professionals and close friends and relatives. There must be evidence that the person:

possibly has a mental illness.
is in danger of becoming a harm to self or harm to others, or is self-neglectful.
Both of these are defined in the Baker Act.”

Baker Act - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

It definitely seems that something is very wrong. I looked at her FB page and looks like she had been a very loving and devoted grandparent to previous grandchildren….

I have a lot of questions too! My guess is that since it happened the same day, that it was before attorney involvement, but not sure.

I found it interesting that she was there for two weeks, which seems a bit longer than the "norm" for Baker Act committals. Possibly extreme suicidal ideation? I know I would be.

From your link:

The decisive criterion, as stated in the statute, mentions a substantial likelihood that without care or treatment the person will cause serious bodily harm in the near future. Criteria are not met simply because a person has a mental illness, appears to have mental problems, takes psychiatric medication, has an emotional outburst, or refuses voluntary examination. Furthermore, if there are family members or friends that will help prevent any potential and present threat of substantial harm, the criteria for involuntary examination are also not met.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

I think if my grandchild died and I was arrested on the same day at my age, I'd be in shock and have all kinds of wild ideas and thoughts.

 

[Lilibet]

Furthermore, if there are family members or friends that will help prevent any potential and present threat of substantial harm, the criteria for involuntary examination are also not met.

So apparently her husband was not able to help prevent a potential or present threat of substantial harm by her. I expect he was in an awful state too, so she therefore qualified for involuntary examination/committment.

 

[Erutan]

I wonder if the redacted medications are benzodiazepines, from the description.

I don't like the inconsistencies in the legal documents. TN and her husband give different accounts. There are a lot of things in there that I personally find disturbing - in both events. Not going to list them out here but the link provided earlier in the thread has a lot of information. The accounts are off.

Regarding the changing pyjamas, it sounds like her husband told her to as EMS were arriving. I know some people are funny about strangers seeing them in pyjamas and may default to that kind of behaviour. I remember reading of an incident when someone's husband had a heart attack and she made the bed before taking him to the hospital. She was in shock. It does weird things to people. That is one POSSIBLE explanation (of a few). But the other stuff is inexcusable (and there is a lot of it).

Bbm.
Hmmmm.....

Was TN's husband trying to protect her ?
Is there something he knows about her condition --if she has one ?
And he doesn't want it to become public ?
Some people are understandably protective of their own.

I'm trying to wrap my head around allowing anyone --even a family member--- watch my child after the sibling died on their watch.
Tragedies like that can permanently fracture a family ... according to what I've learned from reading about other cases, both here at WS and also from msm articles.
Imo.

TN's mugshot almost looks like she is either 'out of it', or 'at peace with herself' -- which is scary !

Rest in peace to the two babies, Uriel and Ezra.

 

[Hoosgirl]

I think if my grandchild died and I was arrested on the same day at my age, I'd be in shock and have all kinds of wild ideas and thoughts.

True. To clarify though, she wasn't arrested until after leaving the 2 week Baker Act stay. But I would certainly be in some sort of state after my second grandchild died on my watch.

 

[ex-stat]

No, he was doing the opposite if anything, e.g. he said he had left the inside door shut and placed a metal door stop behind it. He said he did this because of E being able to open doors now.

Tracey stated that when Nun leaves he puts the metal door stop behind the door as the cat can open the door, E can't open doors and therefore it's not needed for that. Tracey stated she has never seen E open any doors in the home and was unaware he would be able to pull down on the handle style door.

Nun stated that E was able to grab handles and open doors. Nun stated he has seen E grab the door handle of the double doors inside and the deadbolt was the only thing that prevented him from getting the door open. Nun stated he placed a heavy door stop on the door leading to the garage just for E to prevent him from opening the door.

Tracey stated this day the door stopper was not in place.

Mr Nix says that the only thing preventing E from opening the door was the deadbolt (which was not in place).

I advised him that his wife stated she found the door ajar and he shook his head and said he closed the door.

I asked Mr Nix if they had any problems with E opening doors and he indicated interior doors.

Mr Nix says that E hated water and hated taking baths with his brother.
Tracey says that E loved baths.

My Nix says when he left Tracey was awake.
Tracey says when he left she was asleep.

Etc.

What I want to know is where was the metal Dachshund door stop? It was meant to be on the door leading to the garage. Did she remove it to let the cat out or something like that?

 

[Kittybunny]

This case just blows my mind. Like many of you, my immediate question was mental illness, dementia, drugs/alcohol abuse, or evil?

The picture is still murky. But what an unbelievable tragedy. I cannot image what the mother of those babies is going through.

 

[IDK]

No, he was doing the opposite if anything, e.g. he said he had left the inside door shut and placed a metal door stop behind it. He said he did this because of E being able to open doors now.

Tracey stated that when Nun leaves he puts the metal door stop behind the door as the cat can open the door, E can't open doors and therefore it's not needed for that. Tracey stated she has never seen E open any doors in the home and was unaware he would be able to pull down on the handle style door.

Nun stated that E was able to grab handles and open doors. Nun stated he has seen E grab the door handle of the double doors inside and the deadbolt was the only thing that prevented him from getting the door open. Nun stated he placed a heavy door stop on the door leading to the garage just for E to prevent him from opening the door.

Tracey stated this day the door stopper was not in place.

Mr Nix says that the only thing preventing E from opening the door was the deadbolt (which was not in place).

I advised him that his wife stated she found the door ajar and he shook his head and said he closed the door.

I asked Mr Nix if they had any problems with E opening doors and he indicated interior doors.

Mr Nix says that E hated water and hated taking baths with his brother.
Tracey says that E loved baths.

My Nix says when he left Tracey was awake.
Tracey says when he left she was asleep.

Etc.

What I want to know is where was the metal Dachshund door stop? It was meant to be on the door leading to the garage. Did she remove it to let the cat out or something like that?

Very good question about the metal dachshund. I also found the discrepancies in their accounts bizarre. How could they each have such a different recollection about whether or not Ezra liked water or not, and whether or not he could open the door on his own?

Also horrifying , IMO, that TN got back into the car that had little Uriel in it to drive to the back— and even that didn’t spark her memory? She may have even still been alive at that point?! Just so sad.

 

[ex-stat]

I want to know if she had to reverse to get from where she was to the back as well. The route the car would have taken. The whole thing is horrible.

 

[IDK]

I want to know if she had to reverse to get from where she was to the back as well. The route the car would have taken. The whole thing is horrible.

Wow that’s an excellent point— wouldn’t she have looked in the rear view mirror if she was backing up?

I know that even with a backup camera, I still use the rear view mirror as a second safety check. I think most people do, I could be wrong though?

 

[Rolypolyoly]

This case just blows my mind. Like many of you, my immediate question was mental illness, dementia, drugs/alcohol abuse, or evil?

The picture is still murky. But what an unbelievable tragedy. I cannot image what the mother of those babies is going through.

And their poor father, who must also be struggling with some feelings towards his wife, who was the one that trusted her mother with another of their children. It must be incredibly hard not to blame her in any way. (I'm not saying I blame her, just trying to imagine it from his pov).

Moo

 

[GRT]

I read this yesterday. It's so sad. Her daughter wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and give her a second change. What do you think the grandmother was thinking??

Who knows, but after the grandmother fell asleep watching the older child, I don't think I'd give her the benefit of the doubt to watch another child. I'd take the baby over to visit or have her come and visit. But, babysit? No.

 

[ifindedout]

Images of Dachshund door stops:
dachshund door stop cast iron | Google Images