{"id":356282,"date":"2026-07-29T14:50:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:50:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/356282\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T14:50:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:50:44","slug":"infant-death-investigation-in-st-lucie-county-may-not-be-completed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/356282\/","title":{"rendered":"Infant death investigation in St. Lucie County may not be completed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Infant death investigation in St. Lucie County may not be completed<\/p>\n

\"Angela<\/a>ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n

Detectives with the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the death of a 3-month-old baby in Fort Pierce, which occurred in August of last year, and say further charges could be pending. <\/p>\n

Additional details about the case reveal the environment in which the infant was living. <\/p>\n

“I can tell you the facts of this case. Doesn’t even paint a picture clear to what we saw at the hospital,” Detective Corporal Jennifer Diaz said. <\/p>\n

Investigators identified the three caregivers as the baby’s mother, Nicole Maxwell, the baby’s grandfather, Robert Maxwell, and his girlfriend, Vikki Koon. According to authorities, none of the caregivers could explain how the baby died. However, findings from the medical examiner determined the cause of death. <\/p>\n

“There were a lack of food and a lack of fluid intake. So therefore, the baby potentially was not properly being fed and due to the child’s age, was unable to care for themselves,” Diaz said. <\/p>\n

The baby and Nicole Maxwell\u2019s 9-year-old son, who has autism, lived in the mobile home with their grandfather and his girlfriend. Nicole Maxwell lived with her boyfriend in Vero Beach but would visit occasionally. <\/p>\n

Authorities noted that the family has a history of involvement with the Department of Children and Families. Maxwell’s other children are currently in foster care. <\/p>\n

Court records revealed Facebook messages between Nicole Maxwell and her father, Robert Maxwell, raising concerns about the infant’s health. <\/p>\n

Deep Dive: WPBF 25 News Investigates<\/a><\/p>\n

One message on Aug. 12 mentioned that “the infant was out of food.” Another message on Aug. 19 showed Nicole asking if the infant was okay. On Aug. 20, Robert Maxwell stated, “the infant had died.” <\/p>\n

The autopsy found the infant was emaciated and had a sunken abdomen. <\/p>\n

Nicole Maxwell was questioned by investigators. <\/p>\n

“I did interview the mother, and there were a lack of emotion and a lack of empathy towards the death of the child,” Diaz said. <\/p>\n

Tasha Wright, who identified herself as Nicole Maxwell\u2019s boyfriend\u2019s mother, expressed disbelief over Maxwell\u2019s arrest. <\/p>\n

“This is not her. This is not the girl who’s been living in my house for three months,” Wright said. <\/p>\n

All three caregivers remain in custody as the investigation continues.<\/p>\n

Stay up-to-date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Infant death investigation in St. Lucie County may not be completed ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 Detectives with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[145416,2443,4830,19709,22401,2353,5507,4561,11578,145417,28,10706,145414,6265,98555,1598,1961,145415,171,173,172,145418,1402,189],"class_list":["post-356282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-3-month-old-baby","tag-angela-rozier","tag-aug","tag-baby","tag-caregiver","tag-child","tag-death","tag-deputy","tag-detective","tag-facebook-message","tag-florida","tag-girlfriend","tag-grandfather","tag-infant","tag-lack","tag-law-enforcement","tag-mother","tag-nicole-maxwell","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-robert-maxwell","tag-st-lucie-county","tag-wpbf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}