James Staley III Wiki – James Staley III Biography
A man who killed his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son while babysitting him at their Texas home has been found guilty of capital murder. On Monday, after a nine-day trial, a jury found 40-year-old James Staley III guilty of murdering Wilder McDaniel in 2018, KAUZ reports.
The judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole. As Staley was being handcuffed before being led out of court, he yelled, “I didn’t kill Wilder McDaniel,” KAUZ reports. The crime came to light on October 11, 2018, when the toddler’s mother found him dead on the floor near his crib while staying at Staley’s $500,000 home in the Wichita Falls country club area, Texas, according to KAUZ.
James Staley III Age
James Staley III’s age is Unkown.
Incident Detail
The boy’s mother, Amber McDaniel, was on a break from the boy’s father when she was dating Staley, the Times Record News reports. She had Staley babysit Wilder while she worked at a bar, the newspaper reports. After the boy’s death, Staley moved to Okmulgee, Oklahoma, where he was arrested in October 2020, the Times Record News reports.
His arrest came after a grand jury indicted him on capital murder and first-degree felony murder in the child’s death. An autopsy report on January 24, 2019, said the boy’s death was likely homicide by suffocation on a pillow, the Times Record News reports. The Dallas County Medical Examiner said in the autopsy report that the blood on the boy’s pillow “suggests that someone placed a pillow over the boy’s mouth, ultimately suffocating him,” reports KFDX.
“The scene information is patchy and highly suspicious of a homicidal death,” the autopsy report stated, according to KFDX. “No explanation is provided as to how [McDaniel] ended up on the floor and the apparently bloody items were still in the crib, or where the blood may have come from.
“[McDaniel] had no history of previously exiting the crib and there were no fatal injuries present consistent with a fall from the crib to the floor resulting in death,” the autopsy report stated. Authorities also said it appeared Staley staged the scene to look like an accident, the Times Record News reports.
The boy’s mother, McDaniel, told police about another troubling incident in August 2018 when Staley texted her that Wilder had fallen out of bed, the Times Record News reports. Investigators recovered cellphone video of Staley: In the video, Staley is talking to McDaniel as he holds the toddler, who had bruises on his head, Times Record News reports.
In the video, Staley tells the boy: “He’s pretty bright… But do you think I pushed you off the bed?” When the boy says yes, Staley says, “That’s not what happened.” In 2021, McDaniel was charged with one count of child endangerment and abandonment and one count of evidence tampering, KFDX reports.
He allegedly allowed Staley to continue to have access to his son after Staley sent him several text messages and Facebook messages saying that he wanted to harm the boy, according to the indictment, reports KFDX. In text messages that investigators found after unlocking Staley’s phone, Staley said that he wanted to hit or hit the boy and that he had hit or hit him, the indictment says.
In other messages, he said that he had put the boy’s face in a dirty diaper and then put his face in the toilet, and also said that he wanted or had put Wilder in a tinderbox, according to the indictment. “Staley repeatedly communicated violence and hatred toward” the boy, including “that he believed Jason Wilder McDaniel needed to be ‘put down,'” the indictment reads.
“Despite previous warnings,” McDaniel “continued to entrust” Staley to care for her child, who also stayed at her home “while she slept and/or was drunk in the other room,” the indictment alleges. . The indictment also alleges that after he saw bruises on Wilder’s face after Staley had looked at him, he still allowed Staley access to his child, reports KFDX. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Attorneys for McDaniel and Staley did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
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