AUTHOR’S NOTE: This story will be updated frequently throughout proceedings in the punishment trial of Amber McDaniel. Refresh this page often for the latest.

FORT WORTH (KFDX/KJTL) — A jury of seven women and five men are set to hear the last witnesses for the defense testify before determining a sentence in the punishment trial of Amber Nichole McDaniel, which is set to resume on Monday morning.

McDaniel, 33, of Wichita Falls, pleaded guilty in April 2023 to the felony charges of endangering a child and tampering with evidence related to the 2018 murder of her 2-year-old son Jason Wilder McDaniel. She faces a sentence ranging from probation to more than a decade behind bars.

Proceedings are set to continue on Monday, September 18, 2023, in Auxiliary Trial Room E on the seventh floor of the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth, with the court returning from recess at 9 a.m.

Based on what McDaniel’s defense attorney Mark Barber said during his opening statements, McDaniel is still expected to take the stand, waiving her Fifth Amendment right yet again. McDaniel’s testimony is expected to begin after her mother, Dina Taylor, takes the stand to begin proceedings on Monday.

It is unknown if the defense intends to call any other witnesses on Monday before it rests its case, at which point the testimony phase of the trial will conclude. Then, the jury will be read its charge and both the prosecution and the defense will make their closing arguments.

KFDX Weekend Anchor Markeshia Jackson will provide a summary of Monday’s proceedings live from Fort Worth during KFDX 3 News at 6 o’clock.

A running live blog of proceedings on Monday, September 18, 2023, in the punishment trial of Amber McDaniel can be found below.

Judge McKnight dismissed Little from the witness stand. Gillespie, on behalf of the state, closed its case. Barber, on behalf of the defense, also closed its case. Judge McKnight dismissed the jury and instructed them to return promptly at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.

11:37 a.m. — Little testified that most individuals may not know the process by which an investigation occurs regarding police procedure.

Gillespie passed the witness back to Barber for further cross-examination.

11:36 a.m. — Little testified to the process by which an investigation is done.

Barber passed the witness back to Gillespie for further questioning.

11:34 a.m. — Little testified it was possible that for the 11 days between when Wilder was murdered and when the warrant search of the home took place, Staley could have had the home cleaned, and that he was still living in the home during those 11 days.

Gillespie passed the witness to Barber for cross-examination.

11:32 a.m. — Little testified that McDaniel left a voicemail with WFPD Detective Chad Nelson on January 11, 2019. The voicemail is admitted into evidence and played for the courtroom. In the voicemail, McDaniel can be heard asking if the detective was aware the crime scene was contaminated.

Judge McKnight released Bachman from the witness stand and instructed Gillespie he may call his next witness. Gillespie called Brayden Little, an investigator for the Wichita County District Attorney’s Office, to take the stand.

Barber passed the witness back to Gillespie for further questioning.

11:28 a.m. — Bachman testified that after Wilder’s death, she learned that McDaniel wouldn’t sleep in the same bed as Staley and Brooklynn after Wilder was in a crib because she didn’t feel right leaving her son alone.

Gillespie passed the witness back to Barber for further cross-examination.

11:25 a.m. — Bachman testified that she posted on Facebook about McDaniel’s cooperation with law enforcement based on what she had witnessed first-hand and that McDaniel had not led her to believe anything. She testified the text messages were psychotic and violent, but she is aware that McDaniel was manipulated by Staley.

Barber passed the witness back to Gillespie for further questioning.

11:22 a.m. — Bachman testified she was angry and emotional following Wilder’s death.

11:19 a.m. — Bachman testified she took the Facebook post down about two hours after she published it because she knew she shouldn’t have posted it.

11:17 a.m. — Bachman testified that after Amber McDaniel and Bubba McDaniel split up prior to Wilder’s death, she did not have a relationship with her now-sister-in-law. She testified the Facebook posts she made were posted shortly after Wilder’s funeral.

Gillespie passed the witness to Barber for cross-examination.

11:14 a.m. — The exchange between Bachman and Gillespie is at times combative. Bachman again testified when she posted the things she posted on Facebook, she was being fueled by emotions.

11:10 a.m. — Gillespie asked Bachman about a Facebook post that appeared to be critical of McDaniel and appeared to have been published after the affidavits containing the text messages between Staley and McDaniel had been released. Bachman testified this post was in fact from two weeks after Wilder’s death, and her emotions were running rampant.

11:06 a.m. — Gillespie asked Bachman about a Facebook post from July 1, 2020, and asked if she was led to believe by McDaniel that she was cooperating with law enforcement. Bachman testified she had witnessed McDaniel volunteer her phone and fingerprints.

Judge McKnight called the jury back into the courtroom. Barber, on behalf of the defense, rested the case for the defense. Gillespie then asked to recall Courtney Bachman, Bubba McDaniel’s sister.

On the record and outside of the presence of the jury, Amber McDaniel invoked her Fifth Amendment right, electing not to testify in this trial.

Judge McKnight dismissed Taylor from the witness stand and dismissed the jury for their morning break. The Court will be in recess until 11 a.m., at which point testimony will resume.

10:40 a.m. — Barber informed Taylor that over 9,400 text messages were exchanged during a 75-day timespan between Staley and McDaniel. Taylor testified this is an average of 120 messages per day, which is a lot.

Gillespie passed the witness back to Barber for further questioning.

10:39 a.m. — Taylor testified she wouldn’t expect McDaniel to recall any one specific text message following Wilder’s death when so many were sent between the two of them.

Barber passed the witness back to Gillespie for further cross-examination.

10:37 a.m. — Taylor testified McDaniel was not in a good mental place in the days and weeks that followed Wilder’s death. She also testified Wilder was a toddler, not an infant when McDaniel was seeing Staley.

Gillespie passed the witness back to Barber for further questioning.

10:34 a.m. — Taylor testified that she had given McDaniel her stamp of approval regarding Staley before she learned of how dangerous he was. She also testified that if McDaniel had ever thought Staley was dangerous, she would’ve let her mother know.

10:32 a.m. — Taylor testified she wasn’t aware that McDaniel had destroyed evidence and that she wasn’t aware there was any evidence to be destroyed. She testified she still isn’t sure McDaniel ever lied to law enforcement.

10:26 a.m. — Taylor testified to several incidents in which she had met Staley prior to Wilder’s murder. She testified Wilder wanted nothing to do with Staley. She testified that in one particular instance, Wilder was trying so hard to get away from Staley, that Staley said, “Wilder, with you acting like that, people are going to think that I abuse you.” She testified that she began to question things about Staley at that point.

10:20 a.m. — Taylor testified that around the time of the incident when Wilder fell off the bed, Taylor and her husband, David, were out of town, so she never actually observed Wilder with the facial bruising from that incident. Taylor testified that she wasn’t defending Staley but the text messages were being read out of context.

10:14 a.m. — Taylor testified that the text messages from Staley were “stupid”. Gillespie pressed Taylor, asking her if she was minimizing the messages in an effort to defend her daughter. Taylor testified she took an oath before she took the stand, and her answer is the messages were “stupid and childish.” Taylor, at times, would disagree with the verbiage Gillespie used in some of her questions.

10:10 a.m. — Taylor testified she was shocked by the text messages between Staley and McDaniel when she learned about the totality of them during Staley’s capital murder trial. She testified she knew how Staley could be at times, but she was not here to defend Staley or the things he said in those text messages.

Barber passed the witness to Gillespie for cross-examination.

10:07 a.m. — Taylor testified that her ex-husband was arrested multiple times for a variety of charges. She testified McDaniel’s relationship with her father was “disappointing”, and that she and her younger brother were estranged from their biological father at the time of his death.

Barber offered two exhibits into evidence containing a jail log record of Scott Eldon Odom, McDaniel’s father, and a jail search result, which were admitted into evidence with no objection from the prosecution.

10:03 a.m. — Taylor testified that McDaniel has never been convicted of a felony in Texas or any other state, nor has any other federal felony convictions. She also testified she had never been arrested prior to her arrest in July 2021 for the two felony charges connected to Wilder’s death. She testified she was aware that McDaniel would be a convicted felon her entire life, regardless of what the jury decides regarding her punishment.

Barber asked Taylor to review a group of photographs to confirm they contained pictures of McDaniel and Wilder McDaniel prior to his death. Barber then offers the pictures as evidence, and they are admitted with no objection from the prosecution.

10:00 a.m. — Barber handed the stack of photographs to members of the jury for them to pass and view. He then handed Taylor another stack of photographs.

Barber asked Taylor to review a group of photographs to confirm they contain pictures of McDaniel and her son, Phoenix. Barber then offers the pictures as evidence, and they are admitted with no objection from the prosecution.

9:57 a.m. — Taylor testified that McDaniel would stay at the cemetery following Wilder’s funeral. She testified her entire family worried about her and would bring food to her while she stayed at the cemetery. She testified McDaniel was taken to the North Texas State Hospital following a suicide attempt, and she worried McDaniel was going to take her own life.

9:53 a.m. — Taylor testified she didn’t know how Phoenix would get through the day if McDaniel was taken away to serve time in prison. She testified she wanted McDaniel to stay in her life and she now loved her daughter “more than ever” because of how strong she’s become after going through so much.

9:51 a.m. — Taylor testified that “clearly we can’t get this out of our lives”, referring to the trial, when asked if she’s still grieving the loss of Wilder. She testified that she didn’t know how to get over the murder of her grandson.

9:48 a.m. — Taylor testified that 911 dispatch informed her to go to a residence on Irving Place on the morning of October 11, 2018. She testified McDaniel eventually came outside of the residence and informed her that she’d found Wilder deceased on the floor. She became visibly emotional while testifying. She testified she initially felt guilt since she had suggested Wilder having his own crib and McDaniel finding him on the floor. She testified that losing her grandson was “the worst thing” and a “nightmare.”

9:46 a.m. — Taylor testified that during the time when Staley and McDaniel were in a relationship, she learned that the two of them and the two children, Brooklynn and Wilder, were all sleeping in the same bed. She testified she suggested the kids needed beds of their own.

9:43 a.m. — Taylor testified that the entire time Wilder McDaniel was alive, Amber McDaniel was always doing something with Wilder. She testified Wilder and McDaniel were “inseparable”.

9:40 a.m. — Taylor testified that McDaniel went to college, but ultimately dropped out and became a bartender, eventually meeting Bubba McDaniel. She testified that Amber McDaniel had a miscarriage prior to becoming pregnant with Wilder McDaniel which was extremely tough for her. She testified that Amber McDaniel became pregnant following the miscarriage with Wilder.

9:37 a.m. — Taylor testified that when McDaniel was 17, she was raped on her prom night. She testified the rape was reported to the police and a sexual assault assessment was taken. She testified that after this, McDaniel had issues trusting people and it affected her relationships.

9:35 a.m. — Taylor testified that her daughter, McDaniel, was an “exceptional” child. She testified McDaniel was a member of the National Honor Society as well as a cheerleader at her high school. She testified she would volunteer with the Special Olympics for years.

9:33 a.m. — Taylor testified her ex-husband would be physically abusive every time they would go out in public. She testified her ex-husband would be loud and insulting.

9:30 a.m. — Taylor testified she is the mother of Amber McDaniel, Shalah Wakefield, and Scotty Odom. She testified her ex-husband, the father of those three children, was an alcoholic off and on throughout their entire 11-year marriage. She testified he was “as good as gold” until he was drinking. She testified she and her ex-husband separated when McDaniel was about 7 years old. She testified he was verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive.

Judge McKnight instructed Bachman she could step down after she finished reading from the transcript. Judge McKnight instructed Barber he may call his next witness. Barber called Dina Taylor, Amber McDaniel’s mother, to take the stand.

9:24 a.m. — Barber and Bachman read the transcript of McDaniel’s testimony, during which Barber read for Lisa Tanner and Bachman read for McDaniel. Bachman, reading McDaniel’s words, said McDaniel testified she testified against Staley to own up to her responsibility for Wilder’s death, testifying she ignored every red flag and she’ll never forgive herself. She also testified that if all McDaniel had received were the bad text messages, she would not have stuck around.

9:20 a.m. — Barber requested to have Courtney Bachman, who previously testified in this trial, join her in the courtroom and assist him in reading sections of McDaniel’s testimony given during James Staley’s capital murder trial.

9:18 a.m. — Barber offered a USB thumb drive containing an audio recording of the 911 call from McDaniel on the day Wilder was found deceased. The recording is admitted into evidence with no objections from the prosecution. The recording is played in the courtroom, and McDaniel could be observed becoming visibly emotional.

The juror was located. Judge McKnight called the jury into the courtroom and instructed defense attorney Mark Barber he may call his next witness.

9:13 a.m. — Proceedings have yet to begin in Auxiliary Trial Room E because one of the jurors has failed to report to the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center.

9:10 a.m. — Upon arrival, Amber McDaniel’s husband, Bubba McDaniel, was observed in the lobby outside of Auxiliary Trial Room E, his arm in a sling as he continues to recover from a gunshot wound he suffered on Sunday, September 10, just hours before his wife’s trial began.

This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage for the latest from the punishment trial of Amber McDaniel. This story will be updated as new information becomes available, so refresh this page often.