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Tracy Nix was enjoying her retirement years…until two of her young grandchildren died on her watch. 

Up until the back-to-the-back tragedies she had no time clock, no boss, no worries and the freedom to pursue her hobbies and passions, like playing the piano. 

In fact, she was practicing piano for several hours when she forgot that her 7-month-old granddaughter was strapped into a car seat in the back of her 2019 red Lexus on a 90-degree day in Florida. 

Sadly, Baby Uriel died and horrifically this was the first time that a child under 18 months died in her care.

Less than a year earlier, 16-month-old Ezra, Uriel’s brother, drowned in a duck pond while he was staying with his Tracy and his granddad.  

A time of your life that should normally be joyful, delightful, and fun with family and friends has turned into the very worst years of Tracy and her entire family’s lives and they’ll never be the same. 

No charges were pressed against Tracy for Ezra’s death, but she was charged with aggravated manslaughter for Uriel’s death. 

Was she forgetful, medicated, or just plain evil? 

Join us for more on the heartbreaking trial in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Forgetful Grandma Tracy Nix: Hot car baby death,” and be sure to watch or listen until the end where there’s another, unexpected plot twist.   

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 Crime over a slip ‘n slide. Jordan Henning lied and lied. Ashley Henning was shot and died, Murder, justified? You decide. 

Ashley Henning, Sgt. 1st Class in the U.S. Army, was shot to death on her 37th birthday. 

Her death was no accident or crime committed at the hands of a stranger. 

She was gunned by her soldier husband, 34-year-old Jordan Henning, who was angry her 8-year-old son couldn’t remove the water hose from a slip n’ slide they had set up in the yard for the party. 

Jordan was so angry with the boy for failing to unhook the hose and his mother for trying to help that a next-door neighbor came over to check on them. 

Ashley Henning asked the family friend to call 9-1-1 over his terrifying behaivor, which seemed to enrage Jordan Henning even more.   

The prosecution said he had “hatred in his heart” for his wife over their strained relationship. 

All witnesses could testify to was his constant complaints that she didn’t have fall into his arms every time he wanted to have sex, but Jordan claimed his wife was abusive and when he berated and shot her five times on her birthday he had simply “snapped.” 

You won’t believe what the jury believed about the crime. 

Join us for this week’s episode of Gulf Coast Confidential “Don’t invite Jordan Henning to the party: Killer husband’s wife died over Slip ‘N Slide.” 

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Sweet Joanna Otto gone, missing, but never forgotten since 1992! I didn't know you, but I have met the people who did and still mourn you. 

What can happen in 30 years? 

We’ve had technological changes, political shifts, global changes, disasters, and even a virus that affected the whole world  

We’ve broadened this thing known as the Internet. You can get all up in someone’s private business with websites called Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik-Tok. 

We’ve got phones we can carry in our pocket 24 hours a day. They can be used as a computer, address book, calculator, television, and even a companion. 

We’ve suffered through senseless school shootings where our kids are innocent sitting in class like lil’ lambs. 

We lost Princess Diana to a high-speed car crash, and said good-bye to Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, Gorgeous Liz Taylor, Betty White, as well. Thank Heavens, we’ve still got Dolly and she looks better than ever!!

We’ve had our First Black President. Prince Charles is now King Charles. We’ve had one of our U.S. Olympic Hopeful Lady Ice Skaters kneecap her very own competition/teammate. We’ve had some wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. K-Mart went bankrupt.  

Country music has changed so much that it’s cool again, like Barbara Mandrell told us it always was! We even have cars  that can drive themselves and run on electricity. ️ 

You can have Chick-Fil-A and Krispy Kreme delivered right to your front door with in 30 minutes. Speaking of donuts, a new medication known as Ozempic is helping folks drop the pounds they never could in the past. 

We now get 100’s of channels on our TV sets now. Downtown Pensacola is hip, fun, and cool, and oh yes, Phineas Phoggs is still the same, lots of fun! Damian’s Frozen Lemonade is making a comeback.

Pensacola Beach is as beautiful as ever and the World’s Largest Beach Ball (a/k/a water tower) is perched prominently for all to see! Our beaches are still the whitest and most pristine with sparkling Emerald water and waves kissing up against them. 

Joe Patti’s Seafood is as busy, crazy, and second to none as ever! The Blue Angels remain awe inspiring. How do you improve on precision and perfection? 

Our home state of Florida is still synonymous with Sunshine, Fun, and Paradise. Our Honorary King  of Florida, Mickey Mouse is now 97 years old.  

So sweet girl, a lot has changed but a lot has remained the same. 

Although I do not know you personally, you have loved ones such as your Mom, Kathy Hoseid, and Best Friend, Liseth Garrett who always keep you alive in their thoughts and hearts. 

You also have people in the community such as Investigative Reporter Mollye Barrows who has told your story tirelessly and as often as possible for three decades. 

Retired Escambia Sheriff’s Investigator Bobby Guy, is the ultimate law enforcement professional that keeps you near and dear to his heart.

There's another interesting advancement that has popped up in these last 30 years, known as a Podcast. It’s sort of a combination of Radio, TV, and Internet and it can reach millions of more folks than our TV’s could back in 1992. 

So today, Joanna Otto, we share your story in love and with respect to your family, friends, and especially your sweet Momma, Kathy Hoseid. 

Here's the latest we know about your case in our Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Missing, Foul Play Suspected: What happened to Pensacola teen Joanna Otto 33 years ago?”

Signed with Love, 

Pam Hill

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 Susan Smith has been called a lot of names: evil, egocentric, seductress, and murderer. One name she doesn’t deserve is mother. 

In 1994, the then 23-year-old young woman claimed a man carjacked her and took off with her children who were in the backseat. 

A community-wide search in Union, South Carolina went nationwide as the shocking and tragic story of the missing 3-year-old and 14-month-old boys made headlines when Susan and her devastated husband and father of the children made tearful pleas for their return. 

In a shocking twist, police discovered it was no stranger who was responsible for the boys’ disappearance, but their own mother. She had let the car roll into a lake with her children inside screaming for help. 

She later confessed saying she thought she was going to kill herself, too, but changed her mind at the last minute and jumped out of the vehicle, leaving her children to drown alone. She thought they were the only things standing in the way between her and her paramour who was a single, wealthy young man she had been secretly seeing and he told her in no uncertain terms he didn’t want kids. 

Susan almost faced the death penalty but narrowly managed to avoid it. Now, thirty years later she thinks she deserves to be out of prison and have the opportunity to start another family because she says she’s a Christian and God has forgiven her by his grace and mercy. 

Where was this grace and mercy when her babies were strapped in their carseats, calling for their momma, as the water rose in their sinking car? They were later found upside down. The hand of one child was pressed against the window. 

Her life behind bars has not exactly been exemplary with accusations of seducing guards, blatantly disregarding the rules, and insisting she’s ready to be released back into society, which her ex-husband has a huge problem with, in part because she has never shown any true remorse. 

Join us for the latest on this heartbreaking case that even has a tie to Pensacola, in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “It’s Always the Susan Smith Show: Probation denied for Killer Mom who Drowned Sons.” 

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Jimmie “Jay” Lee loved to shine. The 20-year-old Ole Miss Student was known for his love of flamboyant clothes, his Pomeranian ‘Lexie,’ and helping others. 

In fact, the day his disappearance was discovered the soon-to-be social worker had missed attending a baby-formula drive and his friends and family knew something was wrong. 

Jay Lee was last seen leaving his university-affiliated apartment early on the morning of Friday, July 8, 2022, wearing his gray slippers, silver robe and a gold bonnet. 

Police discovered he was going to meet Timothy Herrington Jr., an Ole Miss graduate from a politically and religiously well-connected family who owned his own moving company. 

The strait-laced entrepreneur had been secretly pursuing the energetic social butterfly, but he was hiding the affair from his family. 

Police quickly focused on Herrington and said evidence showed he arranged for the last-minute bootie call when Jay Lee left that morning, but thought he was keeping the hook-up on the down low. 

Instead, police say his internet search history clued them into to his true intentions. He searched for the phrase, “How long does it take strangle someone, Gabby Petito?” It was a true-crime case of one lover killing another that fascinated Herrington and led police to find more evidence that he was involved in Jay’s death. 

Although Jay’s body was not found for over two years, he was declared dead. Prosecutors charged and tried Herrington for his murder, but it ended in a mistrial after one juror refused to convict, saying there was no body. 

Now his body has been found. It had not been at the time we recorded this episode, but at the beginning of February, hunters found Jay Lee’s skeletal remains at a well-known Carroll County dumping site. 

He was still wearing his favorite gold necklace that bore his name “JayLee.” 

It looks like there will be another trial for Tim Herrington who claims he is innocent. Join us for more on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Ole Miss Murder Mystery: Did strait-laced Tim Herrington, Jr. kill his flamboyant hook-up, Jimmie ‘Jay’ Lee, over a bootie call?” 

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Killing a customer for shoplifting seems callous and cruel, but 61-year-old Taz Zarka said he was “not a monster” for stabbing 27-year-old Mark Garrity Jr. to death on April 6, 2023. 

The young man was in Taz’s family-owned, neighborhood supermarket located at the City Bus  Stop in Raleigh, North Carolina when the store owner thought Mark was stealing a blue Gatorade and some ice cream. 

Shoplifting was a constant problem for the businessman, he had them at least twice a day, and Garrity, who struggled with addiction, had put the drink in his bag, but he had not left the store with the items and was approaching the cash register with the ice cream in hand when Taz stabbed him with his pocket knife several times.

After the violent attack, it was business as usual for Taz who immediately began mopping the young man’s blood off the floor. Mark managed to crawl outside where he bled to death on the sidewalk while bystanders took video. 

Police charged Taz Zarka with second-degree murder for the crime that was caught on the store’s camera. Was a drink with monopotassium phosphate, a bit of modified food starch, glycerol, and a dash of blue food dye number one, all that Mark Garrity, Jr.’s life was worth?

Find out what the jury thought on the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Blue Gatorade: Is it worth your life? Store owner Taz Zarka stabs Mark Garrity.” 

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It’s no secret that the Pharmacy Healthcare System is broken. Join Pam and me as we dive into the ugliness of one of the main reasons the Pharmacy Profession and Independent Pharmacies are being threatened, some pharmacists say.

We invited Johnny Brooklere, Pharmacist/Owner of Brooklere Pharmacy 💊 in Birmingham, Alabama to share his expert opinion on one of the main culprits …PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Managers)‼️ 
     
As Brooklere points out, they have a very big fight 🥊 on their hands‼️ A fight for survival of Independent Pharmacies and for patients to have the right to choose their Pharmacy. For the past decade or so pharmacists have been dealing with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — they're accused of being unnecessary, greedy middlemen between pharmacies and health insurance companies as well as drug manufacturers. 

They have allegedly been helping themselves to rebates, formulary making, unscrupulous pricing practices, inflating generic prices exorbitantly, pocketing differentials, creating one hefty reimbursement for chain stores and a so-called "wimpy" and watered down version to Independent Pharmacies for the exact same medication 💊.  
 
PBM’s are owned by the Big Chains and independent pharmacists question how fair that is, when they say they welcome healthy competition.  
          
According to some experts, PBM’s are limiting your choice of Pharmacies, causing ridiculously high costs, delaying your medication 💊 due to prior authorizations, and making deals with brand name manufacturers so you can’t have access to generics. 

Watch 👀 our Special Podcast Episode and learn about PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Managers) called “Unnecessary Middle Men force Patients to pay 💰 more for Prescriptions‼️”

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As unbelievable as it is that a surgeon could mistakenly remove a man’s liver instead of his spleen, the lawsuit filed over the alleged wrongful death of 70-year-old Bill Bryan says that his fatal operation is just the latest in a series of surgical errors by the same surgeon enabled by a system geared to protect doctors. 

 According to the lawsuit filed by Beverly Bryan, Bill’s widow, what seems like a shocking, incredulous, and one-in-a million type of blunder that happened to her husband, was part of a larger pattern of mishaps, near misses, and mistakes that were either never reported or under reported. 

 The lawsuit says it was Ascension Sacred Heart’s reporting system that created the culture which led to Bill Bryan’s tragic death, a culture that minimized and overlooked adverse events like wrong-site surgeries and repeated mistakes by doctors including an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Heekin. 

 He worked for a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, under the same owner and is facing 522 lawsuits for a range of surgical errors including some that resulted in amputation. 

 Join us as we discuss the details in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Lawsuit over Dr. Shaknovsky’s wrong-site liver surgery: Pandora’s Box Opened.” 

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Murder changes everyone. When lives are suddenly and horrifically cut short, the loss also shatters those who love them. 

But they aren’t the only ones who suffer. 

First responders who are first on the scene see it, too. Firefighters, paramedics, and police all witness the worst people can do to each other. It’s rewarding to help people who suffer, but it can take a terrible toll. 

They may not know those who died, but witnessing the aftermath can leave long-lasting trauma. Finding others who can relate and help them process what they’ve seen can be hard.

Retired Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Deputy Patric Gibson was the first person who arrived at Sharon Aydelott’s house on Christmas Eve, 2013, after her ex-husband called 911 to report seeing her bloody body in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze home. 

The 48-year-old middle school science teacher and mother of two, was lying in a pool of blood, her face stabbed and beaten beyond recognition. Sharon’s family later confirmed her identity with her hands. 

Patric was the first person to witness what her then 17-year-old son Brandon Aydelott later confessed to doing. But there’s no time to process horror when you have a job to do.

As Brandon’s latest case status check hearing approaches on Feb. 20 at 9:00 a.m., his first since he was transferred from Florida State Hospital to a step-down facility in Tallahassee, here’s a first-person account from a first responder who shares his experiences and thoughts on crime, trauma, and justice. 

We are grateful to Patric for accepting our invitation to talk about his experiences and we invite you to listen to what he shared in our latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “First on the scene: First responders suffer in silence.”

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A man’s home is his castle and that was certainly the case for Brian Camp, when an unknown intruder broke into his home and attacked him while he, his girlfriend, and their children were sleeping. 

The intruder turned out to be Johnathan Letendre, his girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend.

Naked, unarmed, and asleep, Brian came up out of bed fighting for his life. He didn’t know who Johnathan was at the time or that he had brought a knife and pair of handcuffs when he broke into their apartment.

For twenty minutes, the two men fought hard, grappling, gouging, and swinging for the upper hand. Finally, Brian managed to find a gun and he shot his attacker. He then called 911 and went and checked on his family, when he saw Johnathan moving and shot him again, this time fatally.

Police charged Brian with the death. Although, it seemed like a clear case of self-defense, prosecutors said the second shot wasn’t necessary and tried him for manslaughter.

What would you do to protect your family and yourself in your own home?

Find out what the jury thought in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Boyfriend shot girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend: Don’t F-A-F-O with Brian Camp.”

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