Mom Accused of Fatally Shooting Baby Son Because She Didn’t Want to Give Up Custody

A months-long custody battle over a baby boy ended in tragedy just days before Christmas, after a Wyoming mother allegedly shot her 11-month-old son rather than hand him over to his father.

Madeline Daly, 35, is accused of killing her son, Basil Stoner, on Dec. 23 after fleeing Wyoming with the child in violation of a court order that granted custody to the boy’s father, Jake Stoner. Daly has been charged in New Mexico with an open count of first-degree murder — a capital offense — and child abuse resulting in death, according to a press release from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies were alerted late that morning that Daly, who was wanted on a felony kidnapping warrant out of Wyoming, might be in the Mimbres, N.M., area, the press release said. While searching the area, deputies spotted a woman carrying a child and hurrying into a nearby RV.

Authorities said they repeatedly attempted to contact Daly and eventually reached her by phone. She refused to come out, and deputies called in a SWAT team after learning she might have a handgun.

Before officers could take further action, a gunshot rang out, according to the press release. Deputies rushed into the RV and found Daly holding a handgun to her head and her infant son suffering from a gunshot wound.

Life-saving measures were immediately performed, and the child was transported for an airlift to a hospital, but he died before the flight could take place.

Daly was arrested at the scene and taken to the Grant County Detention Center, where she remains in custody as the case proceeds, the press release said.

During a later court hearing, prosecutors alleged Daly shot the baby in the face rather than allow him to be placed in his father’s custody — a detail described in court and reported by Cowboy State Daily.

The shooting came after a contentious custody dispute in Wyoming, where Stoner sought court-ordered access to his son after Daly allegedly cut off contact, according to Cowboy State Daily, KRQE, and KOAT. When Daly failed to appear for a scheduled hearing, a judge granted Stoner emergency temporary custody, and Daly allegedly fled the state with the child, the outlets reported.

Stoner reported his son missing on Nov. 19, prompting a felony kidnapping warrant and a weekslong search until a tip led deputies to New Mexico, according to reports.

In a GoFundMe created in Basil’s memory, organizers described Stoner’s efforts to remain part of his son’s life, writing that after his first court-ordered visits, he was finally able “to enjoy what he had dreamed of for the better part of his adult life: to be a father.”

“All he ever wanted to do was be a father,” the GoFundMe states.

Daly has not entered a plea. If convicted, she could face a life prison sentence.