The story out of the Mountain West is almost too grim to process: a mother is accused of shooting and killing her 11‑month‑old son after a judge ordered she give up custody. Prosecutors say what should have been a painful but ordinary handoff between parents instead turned into a cross‑state flight and a fatal gunshot to a baby boy. Now that mother is jailed on a first‑degree murder charge, and a family court dispute has become a criminal case that raises hard questions about how custody battles can spiral.
At the center of it all is 35‑year‑old Madeline Daly, her infant son, and the child’s father, Jake Stoner. Investigators say Daly chose death over losing custody, a decision that has stunned even seasoned law enforcement and left relatives trying to make sense of how a legal fight over parenting time ended with an 11‑month‑old dead.
The custody ruling that changed everything
According to investigators, the chain of events started in a family courtroom, not a crime scene. Earlier this year, a judge granted custody of 11‑month‑old Basil Stoner to his father, Jake Stoner, in Wyoming. That decision meant Daly, who had been caring for the baby, was supposed to return him to Stoner. Instead of complying, authorities say she packed up and left the state with the child, turning a civil order into the start of a criminal investigation.
From there, the situation escalated quickly. Reports say Daly, who is 35, did not simply miss a handoff or delay a return, she allegedly fled with Basil in defiance of the custody ruling, cutting off the father’s access to his son and forcing law enforcement to start tracking her movements. The boy, identified as Basil Stoner, was just 11 months old when his mother allegedly took him out of Wyoming after the judge sided with Jake Stoner, setting the stage for what prosecutors now describe as a deliberate act of violence.
A desperate flight and a deadly stop in New Mexico
Once Daly left Wyoming, investigators say the case stopped looking like a bitter custody dispute and started looking like a manhunt. Authorities eventually traced her to New Mexico, where she was found in an RV park with the baby. By the time officers reached the scene in Grant County, the 11‑month‑old had been shot with a handgun and was critically injured, according to accounts that describe a frantic response and a desperate attempt to save him before he died on the way to a hospital.
Law enforcement in New Mexico say Daly told detectives she shot her son because she did not want to give up custody, a chilling explanation that prosecutors now point to as evidence of intent. The child, identified as 11‑month‑old Basil Stoner, suffered a gunshot wound and died before reaching medical care, according to reporting that details how the confrontation in the RV ended with the baby’s death and Daly’s arrest on first-degree murder and child abuse charges.
Inside the allegations against Madeline Daly
Prosecutors say the facts are brutally straightforward: after losing custody, Madeline Daly allegedly took 11‑month‑old Basil Stoner out of Wyoming, drove to New Mexico, and then shot him with a handgun rather than hand him over. One account states that Daly told investigators she did not want to return the child to his father, a statement that, if proven in court, could be central to the state’s argument that this was not a tragic accident but a calculated choice tied directly to the custody ruling.
Charging documents describe Daly as a 35‑year‑old mother now facing the most serious count on the books, with prosecutors in Wyoming filing first-degree murder and child abuse charges after the killing of her 11‑month‑old son. Authorities in Wyoming have laid out a case that links the family court decision, Daly’s decision to flee, and the fatal shooting into a single narrative of a parent who refused to accept a judge’s order and instead turned a gun on her own child.
The baby at the center of the case
Lost in the legal language and cross‑state jurisdiction fights is the life of 11‑month‑old Basil Stoner, the baby at the center of this case. Basil was not yet a year old when his parents’ relationship and their fight over custody pulled him into a system that is supposed to protect children but often struggles to predict which disputes will turn dangerous. His father, Jake Stoner, had just secured custody in court when his son was taken out of Wyoming and, according to investigators, driven toward a fatal encounter in New Mexico.
Reports identify the child by his full name, Basil Stoner, and describe how he was allegedly shot by his mother, Madeline Daly, after she left Wyoming with him in defiance of the custody order that had granted parenting rights to Jake Stoner. For family and friends, the legal terminology around first-degree murder and child abuse is secondary to the reality that an 11‑month‑old who should have been learning to walk and babble is now being remembered in court filings and police affidavits.
Jail, court hearings, and what comes next
After her arrest in New Mexico, Daly was booked into jail to await further proceedings, and her attorneys quickly pushed for her release while the case moves forward. A judge in New Mexico, during a hearing held on a Monday in Jan, rejected that request and ordered that she remain behind bars as she faces a first-degree murder charge tied to the shooting of her 11‑month‑old son at an RV park, according to a report that details how the court weighed the allegations and decided she should stay in custody while the case is pending in New Mexico.
As the criminal case moves forward, Daly is also facing the reality that prosecutors in Wyoming have filed their own first-degree murder and child abuse charges, setting up a complex legal path that could involve extradition and trials in multiple states. One summary notes that during a subsequent court hearing, the potential penalties, including the possibility of life in prison, were outlined as part of the charges tied to the killing of 11‑month‑old Basil, underscoring how seriously authorities are treating the allegations that she killed her son rather than give up custody in this case.
Supporting sources: Mother accused of.
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