Stephanie Wingfield reported Nix missing Wednesday after he failed to respond to her text messages Tuesday. Sheriff’s officers in Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday night recovered a Hyundai sedan that matched the description of Nix’s car from a pond outside the apartment complex where Nix lived.
Wingfield told Jacksonville television station WJAX that her son was dead. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office tweeted only that it had “located” Nix.
Nix, 29, was shot in the chest last December during an attempted armed robbery at a Jacksonville gas station. The South Bend Tribune reported that surgeons chose not to remove the bullet from his left lung, deeming it too risky. Nix told the Tribune of his struggles in dealing with the aftermath of the attack.
Pro Football Talk reported that the Jacksonville Sheriiff’s Office has not indicated that Nix’s death and the shooting are related.
Nix played for the Irish from 2010-13. He was a member of the 2012 team that played Alabama in the BCS national championship game. The Texans drafted him in the third round (83rd overall) in 2014 but Nix never played for Houston after suffering a knee injury.
His only NFL experience came in 2015 when he played in four games for the Giants. He signed with Washington in 2016 and the Jaguars in 2017. Jacksonville cut him in May of that year.
