On May 31, 18-month-old Joe Avery James Lockaby died while in the care of his grandmother. The South Carolina toddler, who was known as Jojo to friends and family, was spending the night with Janik Nix, 64, before she suffered a medical emergency that allegedly resulted in Jojo's hot car death. Although Jojo's mom, Krista Nix, has described the entire situation as a "freak accident," investigators have a different opinion and arrested Janik on August 29 after charging her with homicide by child abuse.
According to Jojo's mom, the tragedy went down when her stepmom was getting ready to take her toddler out to dinner.
After Jojo's death, his mom told WYFF4 that Janik was planning on taking the boy to McDonald's for dinner before he stayed the night for a sleepover. She explained that after Jojo woke up from his nap, Janik strapped him into his car seat but realized that she left her keys inside. So she went back into the house to get them. However, she did not bring Jojo with her and instead left him in the car parked in her driveway while she ran inside to retrieve them.
Krista says that Janik then got dizzy and passed out right as she stepped back into the house.
According to WYFF4, the toddler remained unintentionally trapped in the hot car while his grandma was suffering from the "medical emergency" and was left for an unknown period of time. By the time she regained consciousness, she found Jojo still in the car and "breathing heavily" and unresponsive.
Although she reportedly removed him from the vehicle and tried to cool him down as she called 911, Janik wasn't successful. Jojo was pronounced dead once first responders arrived at 5 p.m.
Now, Janik has been arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse death.
According to the New York Times, an arrest warrant from Wednesday claims that Janik was negligent when she left Jojo in the car while she went back into the home.
"During the course of investigation, investigators determined Nix was negligent while the victim was in her care as the child was left in a motor vehicle for an extended period of time, ultimately resulting the in the victim’s death," Sgt. Ryan Flood stated in a news release, according to Fox Carolina.
WSPA also reports that Janik was denied bond at her hearing and will now have to appear before a circuit judge.
"I know she didn't do it intentionally and I will never believe that," Krista told Fox Carolina.
Despite the charges, Krista is standing by her stepmom. "It bothers me because she did pass out. Something happened to her that day," Krista said. "She would never do that, much less to her own grandchildren."
