A New Mexico mother has pleaded guilty to murdering her 11-month-old son, Basil Daly, weeks after kidnapping him from his father and stating the act was "worth it" to prevent the father from gaining custody. Madeline Veronique Daly, 36, entered her guilty plea this week to first-degree murder charges.
Daly admitted that she fatally shot Basil with a single gunshot to the face in December 2025 in a rural area of Grant County, New Mexico. At the time of the murder, authorities were closing in on her; she had kidnapped the infant from his father's home in Wyoming after a court had granted him emergency custody in November 2025. She had taken the child to a trailer park, attempting to hide in an RV.
According to a police affidavit, Daly told investigators that she knew law enforcement was searching for her. When confronted, she stated that her son's father "can't get Basil." She reportedly said, "F*** it, it's worth a shot." Detectives heard a gunshot from inside the RV, where they found Basil with a fatal wound. Daly then told investigators it was "worth it" as long as the boy's father would not have him.
Daly lost custody of Basil in November 2025 when a judge granted his father emergency custody. Shortly after, she kidnapped the infant. The boy's father reported Basil missing on November 19, stating he had not seen his son for several weeks as Daly resisted returning him. Authorities tracked Daly to New Mexico after she applied for a job there, and a background check revealed the kidnapping warrant from Wyoming.
Daly told deputies upon her arrest that she knew she had broken the law by taking Basil but believed she was keeping him "safe" from her former partner and his family. She claimed she decided to kidnap him after losing custody because she "was not going to allow her son to go back and forth from Nebraska to Wyoming twice a month." She also alleged that Basil "would have been in danger and molested" if he had remained with his father, whom she claimed "never wanted anything to do" with their son financially, physically, or emotionally.
After murdering her son, Daly attempted to turn the gun on herself, but officers subdued her before she could. She has been held without bail since her arrest. Daly now faces a life sentence and will be formally sentenced at a later date.