A nanny who pleaded guilty to killing the 4-week-old baby she was hired to take care of was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Tuesday.
Victoria Fox, 40, said through her public defender that she was “deeply sorry” for what she did.
In August of 2021, Fox was hired by an unnamed couple from Singapore who flew her to San Diego to care for 4-week-old Phoenix while they attended the surrogate birth of twins.
Phoenix was their “miracle child,” conceived after the couple had secured a surrogate in the hope of giving birth to a sibling for their oldest son. Phoenix was born just four weeks before the surrogate mother in San Diego delivered twins.
The couple rented an AirB&B in San Diego and brought both their older son, a nanny and Phoenix with them to wait for the birth.
With two young children and twins on the way, the couple decided to hire a second nanny. According to court documents, Victoria Fox was fully vetted and her references were checked before she was hired and flown to San Diego.
Fox spent several days with the family but wasn’t left alone with Phoenix until the day the surrogate went into labor. The parents were at the hospital when they began receiving calls from Fox.
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At some point, the mother realized something was wrong and returned to the rented home to discover Phoenix barely clinging to life.
In a sentencing document, it was revealed that Fox admitted to violently shaking the baby, squeezing him and throwing him down on the bed. The nanny also admitted that she went downstairs to eat lunch as Phoenix lay dying upstairs.
“Phoenix died within a day or so of his injures,” explained San Diego County Deputy District Attorney Ramona McCarthy. “He suffered an extreme head trauma, extreme subdural hemorrhaging and a fractured femur, however, what he died from was the result of blunt force trauma.”
McCarthy said that after Phoenix’s death, the family learned one of the “stellar” recommendations they’d received when vetting Fox was a lie. Fox had made up the reference.
“There’s no question that it sends a chilling effect to parents in our community,” said McCarthy.
The parents issued this brief written statement to the court. It was read aloud by McCarthy:
“On behalf of our late son Phoenix, my wife and I want to thank the incredible support we have received from all investigating officers and the Prosecutors Office. We think of Phoenix every day and this horrific event still affects us as a family deeply. We hope this sentence means no other family or child will experience what we have been through at the hands of Ms. Fox.
Thank You.”
