Madeline Veronique Daly faces a life sentence after admitting to the December 2025 killing during a cross-state custody dispute.
SILVER CITY, N.M. — A Wyoming woman pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of her 11-month-old son in rural New Mexico, resolving the murder case before trial while leaving her sentence to be imposed at a later hearing.
Madeline Veronique Daly, 36, entered the guilty plea Aug. 24 before District Judge Tom F. Stewart, according to the Sixth Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said Stewart accepted the terms of a plea agreement but delayed sentencing because he wanted additional time to review the case. District Attorney Norman R. Wheeler’s office said Daly faces a life sentence in the New Mexico Department of Corrections. No sentencing date had been announced as of Thursday.
The case grew out of a lengthy custody dispute involving Daly, her son, Basil Stoner, and the child’s father, Jake Stoner. Court-related reporting from Wyoming showed that Jake Stoner had sought greater access to Basil after disagreements with Daly over visitation. The parents eventually shared custody, but the dispute continued. Authorities said a Wyoming court later granted the father temporary emergency custody after Daly missed a court proceeding. Daly then left Wyoming with the child instead of turning him over under the court order.
Wyoming authorities issued a warrant while officials searched for Daly and Basil. The search continued for several weeks before investigators received information that Daly was in southwestern New Mexico. On Dec. 23, 2025, Grant County sheriff’s deputies went to a rural property along New Mexico Highway 15 after receiving information about her location and the outstanding Wyoming warrant. Deputies found Daly and the child in a motorized recreational vehicle on the property, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said deputies surrounded the RV while officers worked to obtain a search warrant. A gunshot was heard from inside, prompting deputies to enter. They found Basil critically wounded and took Daly into custody after a brief struggle. Emergency personnel attempted lifesaving measures and moved the child toward an ambulance, but he died before he could be taken for further medical treatment. Prosecutors later identified the weapon as a 9 mm handgun.
The response included the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State Police, Hurley police, federal officers, emergency medical personnel and investigators from the Sixth Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Earlier reporting based on investigative records said officers had learned Daly might be armed before they entered the RV and had attempted to communicate with her. Authorities did not initially know how the confrontation would end as they worked to take her into custody.
Daly was charged after the killing with first-degree murder and a child-abuse offense resulting in death. She pleaded not guilty during a January court appearance and was ordered held while the prosecution moved forward. A trial had later been scheduled for January 2027, according to subsequent reporting. Her Aug. 24 guilty plea eliminates the need for that murder trial. Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Vega represented the state during the plea hearing.
Investigative records reported by several news organizations described statements Daly made after her arrest about the custody dispute. According to those accounts, Daly said she did not want Basil’s father or his relatives to have access to the child. She also alleged that Basil would have been unsafe if he were placed with his father. Those allegations about the father have not been established as fact in the available court-related reporting, and prosecutors have not publicly announced an independent finding supporting them.
The child’s death also renewed debate in Wyoming over when authorities should issue Amber Alerts during parental-custody cases. Family representatives said an Amber Alert had not been issued while Daly and Basil were missing because authorities did not believe the circumstances met the required standard showing an immediate threat of serious injury or death. Jake Stoner and supporters later called for changes to the system, arguing that a wider alert could have brought more public attention to the search before Daly was located in New Mexico.
Daly’s guilty plea is now the central resolution of the New Mexico murder prosecution, but the case is not finished. Stewart must still impose the sentence after completing his review of the plea agreement. Prosecutors have not announced the date of that hearing, and the public announcement of the plea did not specify the final disposition of the separate child-abuse count that had appeared in earlier proceedings.
Author note: Last updated August 27, 2026.