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

[Ladyotm]

Yikes!

I don't know whether to believe Grandma's medical cocktail, age, and possible dementia left her utterly incompetent, or if she just hated her grandkids for some reason.

I'm with you on this. Did she secretly harbor resentment for these kids? And to want to put up Christmas decorations, rather than answer questions about what happened! Her stories about the baby's likes and abilities were the exact opposite of her husband's. I don't believe either death was an accident. She is a killer.

 

[Lilibet]

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

I think his body language in the interview posted earlier is quite telling. He’s leaning forward, focused on the interviewer, ignoring his wife. She seems to be trying to establish closeness with him unsuccessfully. It would be understandable if he is struggling and blames her, especially if he had been against trusting her mother to watch the baby. We don’t know, of course. Losing two children this way is devastating and it will take a strong marriage to survive it IMO.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

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.

I do understand.

Anyone can make a terrible mistake that cannot be unmade. The odds against her making such a grave mistake twice seem too high to worry about, and she was the grandmother, so it stands to reason she would desperately want to be forgiven and be willing to make sure no such thing happened ever again.

It seems stinky suspicious to me that another child died in her care accidentally. But...there are over seven billion people on the planet, so one-in-a-million longshots happen about seven thousand times per day.

 

[Ssschu]

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

“The Defendant is suffering from major emotional/mental health issues.

Electronically Filed

Her smirk in the mugshot tells me a very different story.

 

[asmi106082]

Mugshot at the below link

Daughter says mom should go to jail after her two toddlers died

Kaila Schock has tearfully requested her own mother go to prison over the death of her children Ezra, 16 months, and Uriel, seven months, who both died in her care.

mol.im

She almost looks like she’s grinning???
MOO

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

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.

We have to be careful here re: the Baker Act. Involuntary commitment could be simply because she was suicidal after she caused the death of her grandchild rather than an underlying mental illness that made her cause the death of her grandchild. We see this not infrequently unfortunately. Someone loses a child in their care (or sometimes, not even in their care), and they become suicidal and inconsolable. This happens even in cases where it isn't their fault, like a car accident or an illness. I'm not a fan of BA in those cases, but it does keep the person safe if they're at imminent high risk.

In terms of time frame. Involuntary commitment has two parts in most (if not all?) states -- the first part is a psychiatric evaluation which is supposed to happen within 24-72 hours depending on the state. The second part is transfer to a psych receiving facility (a psych inpatient unit). Once admitted, in most states, it's a 72-hour hold. If longer hold is required, then a judge has to approve. In some cases, a patient signs in voluntarily before the 72 hours is up.

So for her, if she was on a psych ward for 2 weeks, she either signed in voluntarily or a judge approved it due to risk. Another possibility (please don't shoot the messenger; I know this is bad) is that she was evaluated for the Baker Act and then wasn't transferred in a timely manner due to lack of psych beds. Some patients are kept in the ED until a psych bed becomes available, which can take days to weeks.

Bottom line, I wouldn't read too much into the psych hold yet. We need more information.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

Her smirk in the mugshot tells me a very different story.

She almost looks like she’s grinning???
MOO

I think that might be the obvious "tell" that something is wrong in her head.
Even Chris Watts said he was sorry, and Alex Murdaugh cried a river. They might not have been sincere, but at least they tried.

 

[Hoosgirl]

We have to be careful here re: the Baker Act. Involuntary commitment could be simply because she was suicidal after she caused the death of her grandchild rather than an underlying mental illness that made her cause the death of her grandchild. We see this not infrequently unfortunately. Someone loses a child in their care (or sometimes, not even in their care), and they become suicidal and inconsolable. This happens even in cases where it isn't their fault, like a car accident or an illness. I'm not a fan of BA in those cases, but it does keep the person safe if they're at imminent high risk.

In terms of time frame. Involuntary commitment has two parts in most (if not all?) states -- the first part is a psychiatric evaluation which is supposed to happen within 24-72 hours depending on the state. The second part is transfer to a psych receiving facility (a psych inpatient unit). Once admitted, in most states, it's a 72-hour hold. If longer hold is required, then a judge has to approve. In some cases, a patient signs in voluntarily before the 72 hours is up.

So for her, if she was on a psych ward for 2 weeks, she either signed in voluntarily or a judge approved it due to risk. Another possibility (please don't shoot the messenger; I know this is bad) is that she was evaluated for the Baker Act and then wasn't transferred in a timely manner due to lack of psych beds. Some patients are kept in the ED until a psych bed becomes available, which can take days to weeks.

Bottom line, I wouldn't read too much into the psych hold yet. We need more information.

Very helpful and insightful, thanks so much for sharing your expertise.

 

[Hoosgirl]

DBM, duplicate

 

[Lgreen]

Maybe the daughter has some guilt feelings of letting mom take care of second baby, and her pain is taking it out on mom? I feel like I would blame myself more than my mother if this was me. Think she has dementia, hopefully doctors will check her out. If she has been diagnosed with it, her daughter and spouse are just as much to blame.

 

[mickey2942]

Her smirk in the mugshot tells me a very different story.

It reminds me about the book I read about psychopaths. The book was incredibly creepy, about how psychopaths in society do evil things all of the time, often, very small, petty things, that they never get caught on, just for their pleasure. "The Sociopath Next Door". And how many do go on to killing people, so many stay "under cover", nonetheless creating drama and strife for others.

 

[seasideForest]

Daughter says mom should go to jail after her two toddlers died

Kaila Schock has tearfully requested her own mother go to prison over the death of her children Ezra, 16 months, and Uriel, seven months, who both died in her care.

mol.im

RSBM for brevity.

Either I didn't read the article carefully first time or it's been redacted since then - I just realise now that the grandma was having lunch with friends and that's why the daughter trusted G'ma to look after the baby - the friends were reliable. SMH about G'ma.

The poor daughter and her husband and the poor surviving child too - lost 2 siblings.

 

[Erutan]

RSBM for brevity.

Either I didn't read the article carefully first time or it's been redacted since then - I just realise now that the grandma was having lunch with friends and that's why the daughter trusted G'ma to look after the baby - the friends were reliable. SMH about G'ma.

The poor daughter and her husband and the poor surviving child too - lost 2 siblings.

Bbm.
Oh my goodness.
So the friends may have been a 'safety net' of sorts ?

 

[Tower]

RSBM for brevity.

Either I didn't read the article carefully first time or it's been redacted since then - I just realise now that the grandma was having lunch with friends and that's why the daughter trusted G'ma to look after the baby - the friends were reliable. SMH about G'ma.

The poor daughter and her husband and the poor surviving child too - lost 2 siblings.

I’m not sure how the friends can ensure the baby is safe if Grandma was driving to and from lunch, with enough time for the poor infant to overheat in the yard? As well as make whatever driving decisions that could be irresponsible? (Not securing the baby properly, etc.) That explanation would make far more sense if the mom dropped off and picked up the baby at the restaurant. This whole situation is so incredibly tragic. I’m really leaning toward a dementia diagnosis. Jmo

 

[IDK]

I wasn’t sure whether to post this or not, since it deals only with hot car deaths, and Tracey Nix was involved with two different baby deaths.
I decided to share, just because it is so well written and offers different perspectives and examples of when hot car deaths are charged as crimes, or just treated as a tragic accident:

“The defendant was an immense man, well over 300 pounds, but in the gravity of his sorrow and shame he seemed larger still. He hunched forward in the sturdy wooden armchair that barely contained him, sobbing softly into tissue after tissue, a leg bouncing nervously under the table. In the first pew of spectators sat his wife, looking stricken, absently twisting her wedding band. The room was a sepulcher. Witnesses spoke softly of events so painful that many lost their composure. When a hospital emergency room nurse described how the defendant had behaved after the police first brought him in, she wept. He was virtually catatonic, she remembered, his eyes shut tight, rocking back and forth, locked away in some unfathomable private torment. He would not speak at all for the longest time, not until the nurse sank down beside him and held his hand. It was only then that the patient began to open up, and what he said was that he didn’t want any sedation, that he didn’t deserve a respite from pain, that he wanted to feel it all, and then to die.

The charge in the courtroom was manslaughter, brought by the Commonwealth of Virginia. No significant facts were in dispute. Miles Harrison, 49, was an amiable person, a diligent businessman and a doting, conscientious father until the day last summer -- beset by problems at work, making call after call on his cellphone -- he forgot to drop his son, Chase, at day care. The toddler slowly sweltered to death, strapped into a car seat for nearly nine hours in an office parking lot in Herndon in the blistering heat of July.

It was an inexplicable, inexcusable mistake, but was it a crime? That was the question for a judge to decide.“

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_12

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

My brain won't leave this one alone.

I keep wondering how, if one fell asleep and allowed a small child to wander away, they could ever let another out of their sight?
I picture myself waking up in the night years later, shaking DH awake and asking "DD did take the baby home, right?".

 

[OnlyS]

I think that might be the obvious "tell" that something is wrong in her head.
Even Chris Watts said he was sorry, and Alex Murdaugh cried a river. They might not have been sincere, but at least they tried.

From the info I have read, she was committed to a mental health hospital for 2 (?) weeks. Could it be that her facial expression is different to the one we would expect due to the medication she may have been prescribed during that period ? It may not be a true reflection of her emotions/state ? It’s so difficult to read everything around this.

 

[UrsulaWrenn]

From the info I have read, she was committed to a mental health hospital for 2 (?) weeks. Could it be that her facial expression is different to the one we would expect due to the medication she may have been prescribed during that period ? It may not be a true reflection of her emotions/state ? It’s so difficult to read everything around this.

Yes; I think that's probably possible. I have no medical training so I have no idea how likely it might be, but intuitively it seems reasonable.

 

[housewife]

So shocking and sad, beyond words...
Mostly I can't figure out why mom would let grandma watch another baby after the first death. This grandma's comments sound very narcissistic to me, and narcissists can be very manipulative to their children. Maybe mom is a victim of grandma, too.
edit: clarity

 

[Lilibet]

I wasn’t sure whether to post this or not, since it deals only with hot car deaths, and Tracey Nix was involved with two different baby deaths.
I decided to share, just because it is so well written and offers different perspectives and examples of when hot car deaths are charged as crimes, or just treated as a tragic accident:

“The defendant was an immense man, well over 300 pounds, but in the gravity of his sorrow and shame he seemed larger still. He hunched forward in the sturdy wooden armchair that barely contained him, sobbing softly into tissue after tissue, a leg bouncing nervously under the table. In the first pew of spectators sat his wife, looking stricken, absently twisting her wedding band. The room was a sepulcher. Witnesses spoke softly of events so painful that many lost their composure. When a hospital emergency room nurse described how the defendant had behaved after the police first brought him in, she wept. He was virtually catatonic, she remembered, his eyes shut tight, rocking back and forth, locked away in some unfathomable private torment. He would not speak at all for the longest time, not until the nurse sank down beside him and held his hand. It was only then that the patient began to open up, and what he said was that he didn’t want any sedation, that he didn’t deserve a respite from pain, that he wanted to feel it all, and then to die.

The charge in the courtroom was manslaughter, brought by the Commonwealth of Virginia. No significant facts were in dispute. Miles Harrison, 49, was an amiable person, a diligent businessman and a doting, conscientious father until the day last summer -- beset by problems at work, making call after call on his cellphone -- he forgot to drop his son, Chase, at day care. The toddler slowly sweltered to death, strapped into a car seat for nearly nine hours in an office parking lot in Herndon in the blistering heat of July.

It was an inexplicable, inexcusable mistake, but was it a crime? That was the question for a judge to decide.“

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html?itid=lk_inline_manual_12

This man has a conscience. No grandparent with a conscience would let themselves watch another grandchild again…ever. The fact that Tracey Nix did agree to watch the baby speaks volumes.
JMO