FORT WORTH, Texas — 2:00 p.m.: WFPD Detective Chad Nelson is testifying about interviewing Amber McDaniel, then Amber Odom, about two hours after the discovery of Wilder's body.

The prosecution shows a video clip of Nelson's interview with Amber. She breaks down into sobs and heartbroken screams.

He mentions to her during the interview that there was blood in the crib.

Nelson, lead detective in the WFPD investigation, said she responded: "Was there blood? Did James do something?"

Nelson told jurors that he sought to be sensitive to Amber's emotional state. She told him she had a photo to send him. Someone called her phone, located it and it was given to her.

She later sent Nelson a photo of her son with signs of injury that has been attributed to Staley in allegations of injury to a child, the detective testified.

Neither Staley nor an attorney for him have ever reached out to offer to provide a full interview to police, Nelson testified. The detective later interviewed Bradley Prigmore, Staley's friend, about a text message thread in which the defendant wrote disparagingly of Wilder.

On Oct. 12, Nelson learned Amber wanted to speak to him again to show him messages between her and Staley. He interviewed her again in the WFPD and asked her to screenshot and send him the messages.

In addition in Plano, Nelson interviewed Tara Campisi, mother of Staley's then 4-year-old daughter.

Nelson testified that Everett Baxter Jr., who taught him in a criminology course, was brought on board in early 2019 as an expert for the case because a latent print and suspected blood was found on the pillowcase for Wilder's pillow.

He learned the pillowcase material was delicate, and the WFPD would only have one shot at getting certain evidence.

Nelson learned the print would be good for excluding one person in the household. He worked with another expert to find out what would be needed for further analysis. Further impressions or prints were needed from Amber, who signed a consent form for them in October 2019.

Attorney Bruce Harris contacted Nelson after Wilder's death in October 2018 to ask if Staley could remove the crib from his house, the detective told the jury. Nelson said no.

A search warrant was supposed to be served on Staley's home in the 2000 block of Irving Place at 2 p.m. Oct. 22, 2019, Nelson told the jury. But information was received that resulted in the WFPD speeding up serving the search warrant.

The judge did not allow whatever the new information was to be heard by the jury upon a hearsay objection from defense attorney Mark G. Daniel.

Upon arrival at Staley's house, Nelson was concerned when he saw a trailer to move stuff there, he testified.

1:15 p.m.: The prosecution calls WFPD detective Chad Nelson to the stand after the jury returns from the lunch recess.

Nelson was the lead detective who responded to Staley's home the day of Wilder's death Oct. 11, 2018.

Nelson testified that he heard the kind of agonized screaming rarely heard as he went up to the Staley house. Amber -- then with the last name Odom -- was sitting on a white couch in the formal living room inside, screaming and cuddling her deceased child, who was wrapped in a blanket.

A police officer already at the scene told Nelson where Staley was, Nelson told the jury. Staley is in a closet sitting on the floor in a fetal position with his hands wrapped around his knees and his head bowed.

"I was wondering why he was there and not with his girlfriend," Nelson testified.

The closet had a desk and computer in it, and photographs show it appears to be equipped like an office.

On the way to Staley, Nelson passed the bedroom where Wilder was found deceased and noticed a small stain on the floor there.

Nelson had a child death questionnaire used by the WFPD used for any type of child death investigated, he told the jury. He didn't think Amber was in an emotional place to be able to respond to the questionnaire.

Nelson said he saw a pocketknife in the closet. Staley was cooperative during the limited interview the detective recorded on his iPhone.

Texas is a one-party consent state, allowing a conversation to be recorded if one party consents to it.

Nelson felt despair when he later realized he couldn't retrieve the report from his phone, he told jurors. So he made a report on the interview.

Staley told the detective that Amber put Wilder to bed between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Oct. 10, 2018. Amber and Staley went swimming and drank multiple alcoholic beverages.

Staley told Nelson he fell asleep on a couch in the living room between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Oct. 11, 2018. He didn't know when Amber went to bed, but he stayed up eating ice cream sandwiches and chips and salsa because he was not ready to go to sleep yet.

Staley told the detective that he has a hard time going to sleep because of the mood stabilizers he takes. Nelson testified that at first Staley said he checked on Wilder, but later said he didn't check on the little boy.

The detective asked Staley about drugs anyone in the household is taking, and he said he was taking Adderal, Xanax and Lexapro.

Staley was awoken that morning by Amber's screaming, Nelson testified. Staley signed a consent-to-search form voluntarily.

Defense attorney Mark G. Daniel asked Nelson about the consent-to-search from and if it allows police to search "every nook and cranny."

Nelson confirmed that it did and, at the request of Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie, reads the form aloud to the jury.

Staley asked, "What criminal proceeding?" when Nelson read that phrase from the form, the detective testified. He told the defendant that every death investigation is a criminal investigation until otherwise determined.

"For the first time, I saw him cry," Nelson told the jury.

11:38 a.m. Tuesday: Murder defendant James Irven Staley III's childhood friend just took the stand to testify against him for the prosecution.

Bradley Carson Prigmore, once a high school and college tennis standout, told jurors that Staley texted him and others in a group text a video of Wilder and a message that he thinks the child is "a faggot."

The video shows Wilder running while appearing to be upset. He is running behind Amber.

"Kid needs an ass-whooping and a daddy," Prigmore said, reading a message from Staley in the group text.

More:'No James': First day of testimony highlights Wilder's feelings toward Staley

Staley texted that the child belongs to a "chick" he's been dating. He indicated by text that he thought Wilder was coddled and needs to grow up.

Prigmore told jurors that when he heard about Wilder's death, he provided the messages and video to someone to give to Amber.

About Staley, Prigmore testified, "I believe him to be manipulative."

He told the jury that Staley has a dark sense of humor, but the messages and video went beyond that. So he turned them over to someone.

A defense attorney questioned how concerned he was, asking Prigmore whether he gave the video and messages to the police.

Prigmore said he did not give them to police.

Prigmore pleaded guilty to injury to a child about a year ago and is serving 10 years of deferred adjudication probation as part of a plea bargain. If he successfully serves his probation, Prigmore can avoid a conviction on his record.

Testimony is to resume at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

9:30 a.m. Tuesday: An evidence technician for the Wichita Falls Police Department continues testifying about the extensive forensic evidence she collected for the case.

For instance, she collected impressions of every surface of the hands of Wilder's mother, Amber McDaniel, as well as her DNA, which were supplied without a warrant.

The same material was collected from James Irven Staley III, who is accused of murdering Wilder. But a warrant or warrants were required.

Lisa Tanner, one of the prosecutors, shows Wilder's crib that was in Staley's Wichita Falls home in the Country Club area. The white crib was dragged out so that the jury can view it.

More:UPDATED: Wilder's mother charged with child endangerment, evidence tampering

The 2-year-old boy's body was found on the floor outside of the crib by Amber on the morning of Oct. 11, 2018, according to Tanner's opening statement.

Tanner put photos of the white crib sitting in the bedroom in Staley's home on a screen for the jury to view.

The tech testifies that it was important to get a photo of the crib so she could show the scene of the child's death accurately as possible.

She told jurors that there was no blood visible on the railings of the crib. The evidence tech also made sure to capture on camera a stain on the floor, and she collected a king-sized pillow from the crib.

The technician, who has 17 years of experience, holds up the pillow and says it is marked from later testing.

5:30 p.m. Monday: It was an emotional day in court for 2-year-old Jason Wilder McDaniel’s family.

One of Wilder’s grandparents was the first witness in the murder trial for James Irven Staley III in connection with Wilder’s death Oct. 11, 2018.

He testified that Wilder’s death destroyed his family.

He broke down into tears when telling the jury the last thing Wilder ever said to him the day before the child died: ”No James, Pawpaw. No James’ house.”

Wilder’s mother, Amber McDaniel, woke up Oct. 11, 2018, and found her son dead in a bedroom at Staley’s house, according to a prosecutor’s opening statements.

A defense attorney later contended that Wilder also said a phrase similar to, ”No James,” while speaking of a friend of his mother and a girlfriend of his father.

Amber and Wilder’s father, Robert "Bubba" McDaniel Jr., were not together at the time of the child’s death. She was seeing Staley, and she and Wilder were staying there when he died.

At the end of the day in court, jurors viewed photos of the dead child taken by an evidence technician who works for Wichita Falls police.

One of the child’s family members wept, and another shielded her eyes from the graphic photos.

Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

12:30 p.m. Monday: The defense and prosecution made opening statements in the trial Monday, and Staley entered a not guilty plea before the jury.

James Irven Staley III sat quietly during the proceedings Monday, listening as a prosecutor described the “horror” of the allegations against him.

“This defendant smothered the life out of that sweet little boy,” Lisa Tanner, one of the prosecutors, told the jury.

Tanner read jurors electronic messages Staley wrote about Wilder, such as, ”Scumbags and (off color term) need to be culled, and he’s both.”

Tanner said Staley referred to Wilder with a racial slur in those messages, too.

“You’ll see how he felt about Wilder McDaniel,” Tanner said.

Defense attorney Mark G. Daniel told the jury that prosecutors shopped around for expert opinions in the case to support their theory that Staley suffocated Wilder.

Daniel called into question the validity of some experts and their opinions.

As for Staley, Daniel said he has a dark sense of humor and a foul mouth.

“James does not have very good judgment” and “says inappropriate things,” Daniel said.

The judge recessed the trial for lunch until 1:30 pm Monday.

Check back with www.timesrecordnews.com for more coverage of this trial.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact her with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Staley trial