Amber McDaniel on Friday afternoon pleaded guilty to charges of endangering a child and tampering with evidence.
The charges are connected to the death of her 2-year-old child, Jason Wilder McDaniel, on Oct. 11, 2018, in a Wichita Falls home.
Amber became emotional and was handed a tissue as she tearfully entered her pleas in a short hearing before 30th District Court Judge Jeff McKnight.
She was charged with endangering a child for allowing Wilder to be around James Irven Staley III, who was convicted of the toddler’s murder in March. Prosecutors say Staley smothered the child with a pillow.
Amber was also accused of tampering with evidence because she deleted electronic messages between herself and Staley that showed his pattern of violence and hatred toward the little boy.
There was no plea agreement for Amber. She waived her right to have a jury determine guilt or innocence, pleaded guilty and asked that a jury decide her punishment.
McKnight said he would set a date for that, and Amber would plead guilty once again before jurors who will determine her punishment.
The tampering charge is a third-degree felony which carries a sentence of two to 10 years while the endangering charge is a state jail felony which is generally a maximum of two years.
Typically, a criminal jury trial has two parts. First, jurors decide guilt and innocence after the prosecution and the defense present their cases.
Then comes the punishment phase when both sides can again present witnesses and evidence before the jury retires to deliberate on a sentence.
Defense attorney Mark Barber and Chief Felony Prosecutor Kyle Lessor had a conference with the judge in his chambers after she pleaded guilty. No date had been set as of Friday afternoon for the proceedings to determine her punishment.
Barber said he will seek probation.
During Amber’s pleas, her tears were echoed by her mother-in-law, who was watching from the gallery. Amber’s husband, Robert “Bubba” McDaniel Jr., was also among those in court to support her.
Outside of the courtroom, Bubba declined to comment at this time.
Amber and Staley were in a relationship at the time the boy died. Staley, scion of a wealthy Wichita Falls oil family, was arrested two years after Amber found her child deceased on the floor of a bedroom in Staley’s Country Club area home.
Staley was convicted of capital murder of a person under 10 on March 13 after a trial that was moved to Fort Worth on a change of venue. He was given an automatic sentence to life without parole.