As Tracy Nix entered court, her daughter Kayla could be seen breaking down, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. She had not seen her mother in five months.
The grandmother accused of letting her two grandchildren die while in her care came face to face with her own daughter, the children’s mother, as she appeared in a Florida courtroom.
As Tracy Nix entered court, her daughter Kayla could be seen breaking down, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. She had not seen her mother in five months.
Nix has been charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of her granddaughter Uri, who was 8 months old when authorities say Nix left the baby in her hot car for hours. The infant's death came less than a year after Nix's 18-month-old grandson, Ezra, drowned while in her care.
The children's parents Kayla and Drew forgave Nix for Ezra's death, believing it to be a tragic accident. But in the wake of Uri's death, Kayla said she believed her mother should be criminally punished.
“To know that ultimately, the person that brought me into the world is the person that destroyed his world, my world?” Kayla tells Inside Edition of the magnitude of what has occurred.
At the end of the hearing to determine if Nix should be sent to a mental facility for evaluation, Kayla hugged her mother and cried. The moment was dramatic and unexpected, and the courtroom was stunned. Kayla also hugged her father.
Kayla says the hug was not one of support, but rather a goodbye. She says she told her mother, “I love you and goodbye.”
Nix was sent to a mental facility where she will remain until her next hearing in June. She is due back in court on June 22. She faces up to 35 years in prison if found guilty. Attorneys for Nix previously said this was a tragic accident and she is devastated by the loss of her grandchildren.
"You always hear about people getting struck by lightning twice, or winning the lottery twice," her attorneys said during an interview with WFTS. "I mean here you have the lottery of tragedy and now it's hit twice. It's one of the most unfortunate things I've ever heard of and our heart absolutely, you know, goes out to that family."
