Madeline Veronique Daly, 36, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years after fatally shooting her 11-month-old son, Basil Stoner, inside an RV as deputies closed in on her hideout in rural Grant County, New Mexico. The sentence, imposed by Sixth Judicial District Judge Tom F. Stewart, marks the maximum penalty available under New Mexico law for first-degree murder in a case that began with a custody dispute in Wyoming and ended with a single gunshot inside a parked vehicle two days before Christmas.
A Guilty Plea Ends a Bitter Custody Fight
Daly entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder on August 24, in Sixth Judicial District Court in Silver City, under a plea agreement in which state prosecutors dropped an additional count of intentional child abuse resulting in death, according to the Silver City Daily Press. The deal avoided a jury trial that had been scheduled for January 2027; Daly had initially entered a not guilty plea earlier in the year before reaching the agreement with prosecutors. Chief Deputy District Attorney Joseph Silva represented the state during the hearing, per KTSM 9 News, and District Attorney Norman Wheeler said Judge Stewart imposed a life sentence on the defendant, extending condolences to the family in the aftermath.
Under New Mexico law, following the state's 2009 abolition of capital punishment, a life sentence for first-degree murder carries a mandatory minimum of 30 calendar years before a convict becomes eligible to even request a parole hearing, the Silver City Daily Press reports. Parole eligibility after three decades does not guarantee release and remains subject to evaluation by the state parole board. Judge Stewart cited significant animosity surrounding the case and took additional time to review case records before handing down the final sentence, according to a report from VidMax.
Custody Battle Turned Cross-Country Flight
Basil Stoner was born January 8, 2025, to Daly and Jake Stoner of Kilgore, Nebraska, who had last seen his son in September 2025 before Daly vanished with the child, according to K2 Radio. Stoner had been petitioning courts for enforced visitation since the boy's birth. A Washakie County court in Wyoming awarded emergency sole custody of Basil to his father after Daly failed to appear for a court-ordered visitation hearing on October 21, 2025, per Court TV, and Daly had previously obstructed court-ordered parental visits in the state.
Grant County sheriff's officials reported that Daly brought her son into New Mexico from Wyoming and violated the emergency-custody order. Investigators eventually caught up with her after she applied for a job at Doc Campbell's Post near Gila Hot Springs, where a routine background check flagged an active Wyoming felony warrant for kidnapping, the Silver City Daily Press reported. She had originally traveled to the area seeking work with a former employer who ran mule packing operations in the Gila National Forest.
Deputies Heard a Gunshot Before They Could Serve a Warrant
Deputies received a tip that Daly had been located on December 23, 2025, and found her and her son inside an RV in Grant County, according to KTSM 9 News. As officers worked to secure a search warrant, they heard a gunshot from inside the vehicle. An arrest affidavit from the Grant County Sheriff's Office detailed that Daly fired a single round from a 9mm handgun into her son's face before deputies forced entry and physically restrained her from turning the weapon on herself, according to The Times of India.
Deputies attempted to save the child by rushing him to an awaiting ambulance, per KTSM 9 News. New Mexico State Police crime scene investigators and Grant County Sheriff's officers secured the area, with assistance from the Hurley Police Department, Forest Service law enforcement officers, Native Air, emergency medical services, the FBI, and Sixth Judicial District Attorney's Office investigators. Daly was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and abandonment of a child resulting in death, the station reported.
Daly Told Investigators the Killing Was “Worth It”
According to a Grant County Sheriff's Office probable cause affidavit, Daly told investigators after her arrest that killing her son was “worth it” to prevent the child's father and paternal relatives from obtaining custody, according to the Cowboy State Daily. Investigators noted she said, “Jake can't get Basil,” as deputies approached her RV.
Washakie County prosecutors in Wyoming maintained a pending charge of interference with custody against Daly, electing to hold extradition proceedings in abeyance until New Mexico's criminal prosecution concluded, per the Silver City Daily Press. A conviction on the Wyoming charge could add further prison time once she completes her New Mexico sentence.
Why No Amber Alert Went Out
Authorities did not issue an Amber Alert during the multi-week search for Basil because investigators initially lacked evidence demonstrating an immediate, present threat of physical danger to the child, K2 Radio reported. The child's father subsequently launched a legislative reform initiative pushing Wyoming lawmakers to broaden Amber Alert criteria for parental abductions, in the hope that future cases involving contested custody could trigger a faster public response.
