Day 1 Live Blog: Amber McDaniel trial

Editor's note: Check back often for updates for this live blog following the trial.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A Tarrant County jury heard opening arguments and testimony for the prosecution's case Tuesday in the punishment trial of Amber Nichole McDaniel, mother of 2-year-old Jason Wilder McDaniel.

Amber has pleaded guilty to child endangerment and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of Wilder, who was killed by James Irven Staley III on Oct. 11, 2018, in his Country Club area home.

She made her plea with no deal with the Wichita County District Attorney's Office on April 28 in 30th District Court in Wichita Falls.

A jury seated Monday at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in Fort Worth will determine her punishment with 30th District Judge Jeff McKnight presiding.

Wichita County DA John Gillespie is the lead prosecutor, assisted by Chief Felony Prosecutor Kyle Lessor. Wichita Falls defense attorney Mark Barber is representing Amber.

Her husband being wounded in a shooting Sunday has not resulted in Amber's trial being delayed.

Robert "Bubba" McDaniel Jr. was shot in the arm Sunday evening in Wichita Falls while with his 17-year-old son Robert Ryan McDaniel Jr., who was not injured.

Bubba was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth for treatment for the not-life-threatening injury.

Edondre Lyntre Smith, 21, of Wichita Falls was taken into custody after a standoff of about 90 minutes with Wichita Falls police at an apartment complex on Professional Drive.

Amber is eligible for probation. She has never been convicted of a felony before her pleas.

She faces two to 10 years in prison for evidence tampering, a third-degree felony, and six months to 24 months in state jail for child endangerment, a state jail felony.

Gillespie gave a more lengthy opening statement Monday morning, telling the 12 jurors that Amber neglected to take care of her son and protect him from Staley.

She later joined in cries of, "Justice for Wilder! Justice for Wilder!" Gillespie said.

“That is why you’re ultimately here at this trial, to make sure that there is justice for Wilder," he told the jury.

In Barber's shorter opening statement, he told the jury Amber was a good mom. After Wilder's death, she spent day and night by his graveside. She was suicidal, but her and Bubba's new son, Phoenix, brought her back from the brink.

Barber said she cooperated with law enforcement authorities, and took and passed a polygraph test without ever claiming the Fifth Amendment although she could have.

"But she wanted justice for Wilder," he told the jury.

More: A mother's tears, a mother's punishment: What will happen to Wilder's mom?

Her trial on Tuesday has involved going over some ground familiar from Staley's trial earlier this year. He is Amber's ex-boyfriend and is serving a life sentence without parole.

Staley was convicted of capital murder of a child under 10 and sentenced March 13 in a courtroom at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center.

Testimony in Staley's trial indicated that he smothered Wilder with a pillow while the child and Amber spent the night at the now-broke oil scion's home.

Gillespie believes Staley is a psychopath who meticulously planned the child's murder and thought he would get away with it.

Staley is appealing his conviction.

4:44 p.m. McKnight recesses the trial and sends the jury home. Testimony is to resume at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

4:05 p.m. Wilder began cross-examining Detective Fowler.

The detective told the jury he did not know Staley, and he interviewed Amber one time.

Fowler said he doesn't know what kind of sense of humor Staley had. From the text messages, the detective doesn't know if Wilder was put in the tinderbox or if Staley was just joking.

The evidence of Staley punching Wilder in the face was just in the autopsy report and the video jurors viewed, Fowler testified.

He confirmed that there were a number of messages in which they expressed their love for each other and for Wilder.

Barber pointed out that Staley said he was just kidding after making a derogatory comment about Wilder.

Fowler confirmed that he doesn't know how Amber took most of the messages.

He got involved in the investigation in October 2020, and Chad Nelson was the detective on it before then.

Fowler confirmed the case was moved to the cold case unit at one point and that a medical examiner ruled that the cause and manner of Wilder's death was undetermined.

Fowler told the jury that after Dr. Suzanne Dakil, a child abuse pediatrician, told officials that she believed Wilder's death was a homicide, and he died of asphyxiation that Staley was arrested within days.

Staley was arrested in October 2020 in Oklahoma.

On Oct. 27, 2021, a sergeant told Fowler to open an investigation on Amber and the death of her son, Barber said.

Fowler said he wrote a warrant to get into Staley's cell phone. Initially, the FBI did not have the technology to get into his iPhone.

Barber said the technology did exist to get into an iPhone then.

Fowler testified that technology was not available at that time for the version of software for an Apple iPhone 6 without a passcode.

Fowler took Staley's phone to a Secret Service lab, and technicians there were able to get into it. This was after Staley's arrest.

Wichita Falls police got info from the phone back in the spring, Fowler told the jury.

Gillespie began questioning Fowler again.

He confirmed that based on the messages found on Staley's phone, Amber had lied to him.

Fowler's reaction to the messages?

"I was in shock," he testified.

He was shocked to think that a mother would let someone repeatedly say such things about her child.

Gillespie brings out Amber's judicial confession to the tampering charge in which she admitted deleting messages between her and Staley where he talked about physically harming Wilder.

She confessed to deleting or destroying the messages to impair an investigation, according to the judicial confession Fowler read in court to the jury.

During Staley's trial, Amber testified she deleted the messages between her and Staley after Wilder's death because she did not want to see them and end up messaging him.

As for Wilder's death becoming a cold case, Fowler testified that capital murder does not have a statute of limitations.

The prosecution put a photo of Amber wearing a blue Justice for Wilder T-shirt with the campaign's logo.

Fowler read the words on the T-shirt to the jury, "We demand justice."

Under questioning from Barber again, Fowler said the case was not closed but transferred to the cold case unit where he worked.

Gillespie took over and asked Fowler if the crimes Amber confessed to hampered the investigation of Wilder's murder.

Fowler testified that they did.

He is dismissed from the stand with the stipulation that he may be called back to testify again.

3:55 p.m. The prosecutions shows a video to the jury of Staley and Wilder that was also shown in Staley's murder trial.

In the video, Staley is holding Wilder, who has a big bump on his forehead. Wilder sounds tired.

"Did you fall of the bed?" Staley asked the child.

"Yes," Wilder said.

"Did you think I pushed you off the bed?" Staley said.

"Yes," Wilder said.

Staley was charged with injury to a child in connection with an incident in the weeks before Wilder's death. The prosecution next showed the jury photos taken at Staley's 4,781-square-foot home in the Country Club area.

The photos include a tinderbox, which Staley often mentioned as a place to put Wilder.

Fowler testified that a toddler could fit in the tinderbox. In addition, it would be pretty easy to barricade a toddler in it even though it didn't have a lock.

Fowler testified that it would be dark in the tinderbox if it was shut.

The prosecution showed the jury a photo of Wilder holding a little pumpkin.

Fowler confirmed that it was taken shortly before Wilder's death.

3:40 p.m. Detective Fowler continues testifying and reading text messages with the ADA who is a woman.

"He's like seriously gone from baby to almost toddler. I really do love that dumb little mean (racial slur)," Staley told Amber in a message.

Fowler confirmed the message was sent after the factory reset of Amber's phone, so it wouldn't have been destroyed by that.

In Oct. 10, 2018, at 8:55 a.m., Amber texted, "LMAF, it throws him off when you don't talk to him."

The next exchange is focused on rolls of a paper product that Amber is getting at Staley's request.

Staley said if Wilder cries, he will have to stop ignoring him and beat him. (crying laughing emoji)

Amber told Staley to give Wilder time to realize he is ignoring him.

Staley said he can't ignore a crying kid.

Fowler testified that the messages between Amber and Staley showed his animosity toward Wilder and his state of mind before killing Wilder.

Gillespie asked Fowler if Amber destroying text messages helped cover up her son's murder regardless of why she did it, as well as delay the murder investigation.

Fowler said yes.

He testified earlier that it took two and a half years to retrieve the messages from Staley's cell phone.

3:20 p.m. The judge sends the jury out for a 20 minute break.

2:32 p.m. In messages, Amber reassured Staley that Wilder talked about him when he is not around, but then the child acts up when he is with Staley. Later, he apologizes to Amber for misbehaving.

Staley told Amber that if Wilder says, "No James" when he is over, then Staley will put him in the trash.

It is of note that the DA, himself, analyzed over 9,750 messages between Amber and Staley exchanged over 9,750 electronic messages during their ill-fated romance lasting about 79 days in 2018.

The jury in Staley's trial heard dozens of their messages from texts, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat read in court.

The jury in Ambers trial listened to messages in which she appeared to join in with dark jokes about Wilder.

"I'm about to put him in the trashcan," Amber wrote in a message. She added that she thought a female relative lied about Wilder napping.

While these messages are read, Amber and her attorney follow along.

Amber told Staley she had to do a factory reset on her phone. She is not happy.

Fowler confirmed in testimony that analysts found that there had been a factory reset on Amber's phone and that data had been lost. The factory reset was before Sept. 27, 2018.

Gillespie asked Fowler how he took the message from Staley that they will "cure him" of his (racial slur).

Fowler confirmed it's a derogatory term used for negative purposes.

"Call me when you're done. I love, love, love you. He only listens to you when you say go to sleep," Amber messaged Staley in another exchange.

"Put your foot down," Staley told her.

He said Wilder was whiny and manipulative and suggests Amber give him melatonin.

Amber told him she was too scared to give him melatonin drops because she had given the child allergy medication.

"Only the good die young," Staley said.

He adds that they will have more kids and maybe Wilder will get Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Amber told him not to say that because that is horrible and asking for bad karma.

Gillespie asked Fowler if Amber's response was pushing back.

Fowler told the jury that yes, it was, and Amber would have had to process Staley's SIDS comment to respond to it.

"Has anyone ever joked about your child dying?" Gillespie asked Fowler.

"No, sir," Fowler said.

"Would you remember that?" the DA said.

Fowler testifies that he would.

In messages, Staley and Amber talk about Wilder sleeping in a crib set up at Staley's house.

Amber said she was surprised he hasn't tried to climb out of it.

Staley said that would happen one time because he would punish Wilder.

At one point, Staley asked Amber how (racial slur) boy was doing.

Amber told him that Wilder was "being an extra person of color."

Amber and Staley get into an argument again.

Staley told her to go to hell.

Amber told Staley she loved him and that she is sorry Wilder is a lot to handle. She loves Staley's daughter.

He told Amber his daughter doesn't need anything from her.

In other messages on Oct. 8, 2018, Amber asks, "Are you not keeping Wilder? Or are you taking him to the dump."

Staley said he is.

1:30 p.m. The jury returned to court after lunch, and Fowler continued his testimony and reading the part of Staley in electronic messages while an assistant DA who is a woman reads Amber's part.

In another exchange of messages, Staley complains about Wilder's behavior and says he will just spank him "red" the next time he misbehaves.

Amber told Staley that Wilder was 2, and she was working on his behavior. She said that if Wilder needed to spank him, then that was OK.

Staley's comments about Wilder are sprinkled with abusive language, including a racial slur that he calls Wilder.

Gillespie continued to submit large posters with text messages on them as "demonstratives."

"OMG, shut up. You hate my child," Amber messaged in one exchange.

Staley told her that he loves Amber and Wilder, but she would feel the same way about his daughter if she treated Amber the way Wilder treated Staley.

Staley said more than once that Wilder doesn't like him.

Barber objected that the emojis weren't always being read.

McKnight said to make sure to read the emojis.

Staley messages about Wilder, "He seriously thing he runs things."

So Staley will discipline him, and Wilder won't like him, he messaged.

Fowler testified that Staley refers multiple times to getting rid of Wilder in the messages.

In another exchange, Amber told Staley that she was going to Weatherford to get a dress, and Staley told her he hoped she found one and that Wilder got eaten by a cow.

Gillespie went over messages with Fowler in which Staley called Wilder, "a little bitch that does nothing but whine and cry all the time" and talks about having a dream of not having Wilder around.

Amber said Staley really thought that one out.

He said the idea got bigger and bigger.

In later messages, they discuss whether Wilder can get out of a Pack 'N Play if he sleeps in one.

"Why are we even doing this? The only time we agree is about my kid," Amber messages.

She said she feels like a bad mother, and they seem to argue about Wilder every day. Maybe Staley should be with someone who doesn't have a child.

Staley told her that she is a good mom and is his person.

He said it's a good situation.

Amber expressed doubts about her abilities as a mother again, and as she has said before, tells Staley she is trying.

"Make him stop being an asshole, and everything will be perfect," Staley said at one point.

They made up from the argument and said goodbye.

In other messages, Staley joked about giving Wilder a lighter he can set Staley's house on fire. Then he can collect insurance money and really make his house "sick.'

Gillespie asked Fowler if Staley's home needed work, saying that he had flashbacks to '80s-style interiors when he saw the inside of the home, himself.

Fowler testified that yes, the home needed work.

In another exchange, Staley joked about changing Wilder's diaper, the child's genitalia, pushing his face into the dirty diaper, giving him "a swirly" and wheeling him to the curb.

Fowler testified, over Barber's unsuccessful objection, that he would be very upset if someone talked about pushing his child's face into a diaper.

In August 2018, Staley messaged Amber, "Can we beat Wilder?"

It's supposed to be another one of Staley's seemingly endless dark jokes at the child's expense that threaten violence and abuse.

They message about Wilder being sick and throwing up on Amber.

She said she will take Wilder to daycare as long as he doesn't throw up again.

Staley told her to rub the child's nose in it so he won't do it again.

At 8:34 p.m. Sept. 1, Staley messaged that he is not being cocky but up until now, he's been able to have anything he wants -- except for getting a kid to shut up.

In later messages, Staley told Amber that Wilder fell off the bed and got a shiner.

At 1 a.m. Sept. 2, 2018, Staley complains about Amber working at a bar. He disparages her job and pay.

"Your annual pay is less than my intangible drilling costs next month," Staley messaged.

She defends working, and he ratchets up the pressure for her to quit.

"You do it because it's an excuse to be a degenerate," Staley messaged.

"My daily revenue dwarfs you and your family's entire tax return," he told Amber.

She told him, what would be next if she quit. She won't have any money.

He told her he would write her a check.

The argument gets worse, and he dumps her and calls her a whore and a retard and tells her she's stupid.

"I'm sorry. I'll quit," Amber said.

She tried to placate him, but he continued calling her names, told her to (expletive) off and to come get "Douche." Staley told her to stop being proud.

Somehow, they make up and end up saying, I love you.

Amber then made arrangements with Staley to watch Wilder while she goes to class the next day on Sept. 3, 2018.

11:56 a.m. McKnight sent the jury to lunch until 1:30 p.m.

11:43 a.m. There was a pause as Gillespie got some big white cards situated. They have excerpts from the text messages the jury just heard. The excerpts include some of the more disturbing language from Staley about Wilder.

Gillespie called the big poster boards "demonstratives."

Fowler and the prosecutor read more messages. Staley proposed setting up a fake adoption agency and leaving Wilder there to chill for a couple of days.

Amber's reply indicated laughter and she apparently jokingly called Staley a derogatory name.

In another exchange, Amber apologizes for Wilder's behavior.

Staley called him that little (racist term). He told Amber it was OK, but seriously, Wilder's behavior would get him kicked out of daycare.

Later she thought Staley was joking when he called Wilder autistic and special needs.

Staley told he he wasn't kidding and referenced a tantrum.

In another exchange, Staley told Amber, "That was (expletive) ridiculous."

Amber apologized.

"See, this is what I get for trying to be nice," Staley messaged.

He told her should have kicked Wilder in the face, punched him and told him, "(expletive) you, snake."

In testimony, Tanner confirmed that some days later, there were signs of physical abuse on Wilder.

11:20 a.m. Amber and Staley got back together. They exchanged messages spri"nkled with "I love you" and emojies: hearts, kissy faces and so on.

"Do I get to see you later?" she messages.

"Depends on if I find a cage for devil child," Staley messages, indicating he is joking.

Staley was known for having a very dark sense of humor, an issue explored at his trial.

In later messages, he joked about getting a "shock collar" for Wilder and putting him in a "tinderbox," and called him gay. Staley called Wilder "Capt. Douche" and his young daughter, "Douchette."

While Amber was at work, Staley was watching Wilder one day.

He messaged her that Wilder called him "daddy" and told Staley to hold him. Staley joked that he wants to punch the child in the face, but he is too cute.

Gillespie asked Fowler to clarify what a tinderbox is.

It is a box containing wood for a fireplace.

11:09 a.m. The texts become more negative with Staley expressing discontent about Wilder being around.

Amber tells Staley that she and Wilder "are a package deal, buddy" in a message.

An argument plays out over messages that apparently lasts several hours: "He just doesn't like me," Staley messages.

Amber messages that Wilder is 2-years-old, and he was recently tired and grouchy. But the child has spoken positively about Staley.

Staley messages that Wilder needs a man in his life.

Amber said she is trying to give him one, and Staley is the first guy she has allowed to be around him.

"A boy without his dad is a bad deal. I don't have the balls to step in," Staley messages.

He adds that he was physically abused by his mother's boyfriends over 7 years.

They appear to break up, but Amber wants him to talk to her face to face.

"I'm telling you for your own good and your son's," Staley messages. "Stay the (expletive) away from me for good."

He messages that she can get her stuff.

She tells him to throw it away. Then she messages that she is coming to see him.

Staley tells her that he isn't home.

"Your son's a baby and doesn't like me and doesn't appreciate me," Staley texts.

"He's 2 years old. Are you serious?" Amber messages.

Later, she messaged him to unlock the backdoor and stop being scared.

10:50 a.m. The jury heard text messages from the beginning of Amber and Staley's relationship read in court.

Fowler read the part of Staley, and a female prosecutor read Amber's part.

They followed along in large binders of text messages. The messages take the jury through the initial enthusiasm of their platonic meeting and then blossoming romance.

The sound of turning pages periodically filled the courtroom as the jurors flip pages in their binders to follow along.

James messages Amber that he has bipolar disorder and has never dated a woman with a child before.

She texts him about what is going on in her life, and they text about what they want from eacher other.

10:30 a.m. McKnight sent the jury out on mid-morning break.

10:12 a.m. Wichita Falls police Detective Tanner Fowler took the stand.

He testified that he investigated Wilder's homicide. The child was about 30 months old when he was killed, and he was a witness in Staley's trial.

10 a.m.: Gillespie reads to the jury from Wilder's autopsy and also submits into evidence the judgement against Staley for his capital murder conviction.

His trial was moved to Fort Worth on a change of venue because of safety concerns and pre-trial publicity.

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

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Day 1 Live Blog: Amber McDaniel trial