Kaila's baby died when he was with her mum. She gave her a second chance

“My babies were beautiful ...  but taken by someone we believed was worthy of trust.”

Tracey Nix and the grandchildren she was supervising. Image: Fox 13

On a warm November afternoon in 2022, seven-month-old Uriel Schock was left sitting in the back of a car, windows rolled all the way up. 

Her grandmother, 67-year-old Tracey Nix, had driven the baby home after lunch, and then “forgot” about her. 

In the three hours that followed, Tracey played the piano and interacted with her dog inside her home. On that fateful day, temperatures reached approximately 32°C. 

It wasn’t until someone arrived at Nix's house that she remembered she’d left her granddaughter in the car.

While Nix’s husband tried performing CPR, Uriel had already died.

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"It wasn't the first time a child died on Nix's watch"

It was every family’s worst nightmare. Even worse, this wasn’t the first time one of Nix’s grandchildren had died in her care. 

Less than a year earlier, Uriel’s older brother, Ezra, drowned in a pond nearby Nix’s house while she was sleeping on the couch. He was just 16 months old. 

At the time, no criminal charges were laid against Nix for Ezra’s drowning. Just 11 months later, the outcome was very different with Uriel.

Nix’s attorney argued that at the time of Uriel’s death, she was taking various medications that could have caused her to have issues with memory, attention, and concentration. 

But it wasn't enough to excuse her negligence.

This week, the grandmother was found not guilty of aggravated assault, but received the maximum penalty for leaving a child unattended in a vehicle for longer than 15 minutes.

Tracey Nix and the grandchildren she was supervising. Image: Fox 13

"I wanted to save something, mum"

In emotional moments before the court, the children’s mother, Kaila, explained that she had been hoping to restore the relationship with the grandmother following the death of Ezra. 

“I wanted our family. I wanted to save something, mum,” she said in court in a tearful voice. “I don’t sit and believe that this was an intentional act… I’m still your daughter and nothing is changing any of this.”

However, when compelled to make a choice between her mother and children, she picked them.

“I just wanted this to stop. I just wanted this to end. But I had to seek justice for my daughter and my son because I was already forced to choose.”

Drew Schock, the father of Ezra and Uriel, added that he was fighting for the memory of his kids. 

“I’m standing up here in front of you guys defending my children, from the woman who took them away from us.

"As parents, what would you guys do in my position? If this happened, not once but twice,” he said. “That’s all we can do is make sure this doesn’t happen again. Because nobody thought it would happen a second time."

“We were anxious, but I loved my mother and I am a daughter that wanted her mum in her life in some capacity." Source: YouTube/ABC Action News

What happened to baby Ezra?

Kaila was six months pregnant when she received a call from her husband. 

It was three days before Christmas and she immediately got in her car and sped towards her mother’s house. She passed through a stop sign and crashed head-on into another car.

However, there was nothing she could do to save her son, who had already fallen into a pond and died by drowning. 

In the days that followed, Kaila made the difficult decision to not be told any information about Ezra’s death that would be distressing. Acting on medical advice, she wanted to protect Uriel - her unborn child - from any harm. 

“As much as I loved him, [Uriel] was a real life and she was coming and it would be wrong of me to lose her over him and hurt her,” she explained. 

Yet she still  found forgiveness in her soul, and gave her mum a second chance as a grandmother.

“I loved my mother and I am a daughter that wanted her mom in her life in some capacity, and in that moment, I thought that I could believe in second chances.”

The two couldn’t “fathom” that it would happen twice - no one could. 

“If I’m objective — [Nix] needs to go to prison,” Kaila said. “As her daughter, it kills me to say it. As their mother, I demand it. I will fight for them.

“They were beautiful children and they were taken by someone that we believed was worthy of trust.”

Tracey Nix claims she's "in her own prison"

Nix, a former school principal, didn’t take the stand during her trial but did say a few words at her sentencing this month. She claimed that she loved her grandchildren, and it was a lapse in her memory. 

“I forgot that she was there. She was quiet and there was nothing there to remind me that she was in the car,” she told the court.

She went on to speak directly to her daughter and son-in-law who were watching on in the room. 

“I think that you have the impression that I have not grieved and that I have not cared about your children. And that cannot be farther from the truth. I am desperately sorry for the pain that you’ve endured.

"I wake up every day, and I think about it. I am in my own prison, and it will last all of my life.”

While Nix pleaded her devastation, the judge was not convinced of her sincerity. 

“At no time during the 10,800 seconds that elapsed did she think one second about her granddaughter,” Judge Rafool stated. 

“I see her more concerned with her community image than the death of a child. I do not believe she’s shown remorse, I believe she’s showing sorrow. Sorrow is not the same as remorse.”

Originally published as Kaila's baby died when he was with her mum. She gave her a second chance