Childhood friend testifies against Staley

FORT WORTH, Texas — He was childhood friends with James Irven Staley III and asked him to be the best man at his wedding.

But Bradley Carson Prigmore took the stand Tuesday morning to testify for the prosecution in Staley's murder trial in connection with the death of 2-year-old Jason Wilder McDaniel Oct. 11, 2018, in the defendant's Wichita Falls home.

"I believe him to be manipulative," Prigmore told the jury about Staley.

Staley, 40, has been saddled with notoriety since Wilder's death, driving him to move to Oklahoma to escape the unwanted attention.

Prigmore, however, has been well-known in Wichita Falls as a high school and college tennis standout. But he has had his own trouble with the law.

About a year ago, Prigmore pleaded guilty to serious mental injury of a child younger than 14 in connection with an April 9, 2017, incident.

More:UPDATED Live blog: James Staley trial coverage

He is serving 10 years of deferred adjudication probation as part of a plea bargain. If he successfully serves his probation, Prigmore will avoid a conviction on his record.

With shoulder-length brown hair, a deep tan and calm demeanor, Prigmore testified about his concerns over a video and text messages Staley sent to a group of friends at some point before Wilder's death.

He told jurors in a courtroom at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center that Staley has a dark sense of humor. But in light of Wilder's death, he felt the video and messages went beyond that.

So Prigmore provided them to someone else to pass on to Amber McDaniel, Wilder's mother, he testified. In addition, he later provided the video and messages to police.

The video was played in the courtroom, and jurors heard about a string of messages, laden with insults to the little boy, that Staley sent to a group text with Prigmore and other friends.

The video shows Wilder running while appearing to be upset. He is running behind his mom.

Prigmore testified that Staley texted him and others in the group the video and a message that he thinks the child is "a [gay slur]."

"Kid needs an ass-whooping and a daddy," Prigmore said, reading a message from Staley to the group text.

During cross examination, a defense attorney questioned how concerned Prigmore was since he didn't provide the video and messages to police immediately upon receiving them.

Prigmore testified that no, he did not give them to the police right away.

In court Wednesday, Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie referred to the chain of texts as the "God, I hate [gay slur] kids group text."

Amber Campisi also testified against Staley on Wednesday.

She is aunt to the child that Staley and her sister share. She and her sister both say they work at the family business, Campisi's Restaurants, on their Facebook accounts.

Campisi gave an account of an exchange of electronic messages with Staley Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 of 2018.

"I have a secret. Please, let me tell you," Staley messaged her at 11:20 p.m. Oct. 10. "I can't hold it in. Call me, please."

On Oct. 11, she texted him back to say, Sorry, she was sleeping, she testified. Staley messaged Campisi that her sister and her new boyfriend were expecting a child.

"I'm in shock," Campisi messaged back.

There was a joke about whether the baby would have "scary eyes" like the father, according to Campisi's testimony.

"LMAO," Staley messaged her at about 11 a.m. Oct 11, 2018.

A jury was selected last week, and testimony in the trial began Monday.

Amber McDaniel woke about 9:15 a.m. Oct. 11 and found Wilder's cold body beside his crib in a bedroom at Staley's home on Irving Place, according to testimony and a special prosecutor's opening argument.

Prosecutors contend Staley smothered Wilder to death, and then he tampered with the body to stage the death scene, according to allegations in court documents.

Before Wilder was killed, Staley directed a stream of threats and hatred at him and was violent toward him, according to allegations in court documents.

Staley, who faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder, maintains his innocence of the charges against him.

Defense attorneys seem to be building a case that prosecutors shopped around for experts to support their theory. They have also questioned Amber McDaniel's account of events before Wilder was found dead.

In addition, the defense contends it was unsafe for a child as tall as Wilder to sleep in a crib, raising the possibility the child could have fallen from the crib and sustained injuries.

The final autopsy report's findings were that the child's cause of death was asphyxiation.

The manner of death was undetermined, but the findings were "concerning for a homicidal death” caused by someone smothering Wilder with a pillow.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact her with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Childhood friend Prigmore testifies against Staley