A Florida family is facing unimaginable grief after two separate tragedies claimed the lives of two young children — both while under the care of their grandmother.

Tracey Nix, a 67-year-old retired school principal from Hardee County, Florida, has been sentenced to five years in prison following the death of her 7-month-old granddaughter, Uriel Schock, who died in a hot car in November 2022. This tragic event followed the earlier death of her 16-month-old grandson, Ezra, who drowned while in her care in December 2021.

The most recent incident occurred on a sweltering 90-degree day. Nix had taken Uriel out while her daughter, Kaila, was at a hair appointment. Authorities say Nix returned home from lunch with friends and forgot the baby was still in her SUV. It wasn’t until a relative arrived at her home that the child was discovered, unresponsive, in the backseat.

“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,”

Nix said during her sentencing.
Uriel’s mother and father, Kaila and Drew Schock, spoke through tears in court, expressing the agony of losing both their son and daughter within a year.

“To think of the last moments of her life as a mother is gut-wrenching,”

Kaila said.

“And that it actually just f—ing happened twice. In our lifetime,”

added Drew.
Ezra’s death occurred in 2021 when he wandered into a pond near the Nix home and drowned while Tracey was reportedly asleep. No charges were filed at the time, due to what prosecutors called insufficient evidence of negligence.

But with Uriel’s death just a year later, the case took a different turn.

Tracey Nix was initially charged with aggravated manslaughter, which carried the potential for a 30-year sentence. A jury found her guilty of the lesser charge of leaving a child unattended in a vehicle, a third-degree felony. The maximum sentence for that conviction is five years — and the judge handed her exactly that.

“Uriel is not an isolated incident. I do not believe she is showing remorse; I believe she is showing sorrow,”

Judge Brandon Rafool said during sentencing.
The heartbreak was deeply felt in the courtroom. Kaila, speaking directly to her mother, said:

“I still love you. I hate this. I hate that I have to choose, but you know I had to. But it doesn’t change my heart.”

Her husband, Drew, echoed the pain:

“We’re going to spend the rest of our lives… My son is going to grow up his whole life without his brother and without his sister.”

Despite the defense’s efforts to highlight Nix’s remorse and long-standing career in education, the court weighed the gravity of the repeated tragedy.

Her husband, Nun Ney Nix, testified that Tracey had become reclusive and depressed after the incidents, avoiding public spaces and grieving in silence. But for many, that wasn’t enough.

This case has brought renewed attention to the dangers of hot car deaths — an all-too-common tragedy that continues to claim young lives.

According to Kids and Car Safety, more than 1,125 children have died in hot vehicles in the U.S. since 1990. Of those, 56% were accidentally left behind. In 2023 alone, 40 children died in similar incidents, many caused by pediatric vehicular heatstroke.

Experts like Dr. David Diamond of the University of South Florida say it can happen to anyone.

“We have a powerful brain-autopilot memory system… and in that process, we lose awareness of other things in our mind, including that there’s a child in the car,”

he explained.
To prevent these tragedies, organizations urge parents to:

Always check the backseat before exiting the car.

Place a personal item like a phone, wallet, or purse in the backseat.

Keep vehicles locked when not in use to prevent children from entering unnoticed.

Tracey Nix’s sentencing closes a painful chapter — but the ripple effects will last a lifetime. The Metcalf-Schock family has lost two children in heartbreaking, preventable ways. And while the court has spoken, the deeper question of how to protect children from hot car deaths continues to press on.

May Uriel and Ezra’s memories serve as a somber reminder to never underestimate the dangers of heat — or the devastating impact of a forgotten moment.