The Wichita Falls Police Department announced today that 37-year-old James Irven Staley III that had been arrested and charged with the murder of Jason “Wilder” McDaniel. 

Staley was arrested at 10:20 am Thursday morning at his residence in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma and is currently being held there. Bond has not been set at this time. 

The announcement comes almost exactly two years after two-year-old Wilder’s body was discovered at Staley’s home in the 2000 block of Irving Place on October 11, 2018. 

During a press conference held Thursday afternoon to announce the arrest, WFPD Chief of Police Manuel Borrego said that “it’s been a very complex investigation.” He later stated, “Certainly, we all wanted justice for Wilder, and right now I think we’re on that journey to getting him that justice.” 

An autopsy performed by Dallas County medical examiners in July of this year determined the cause of death to be suspicious of homicide by asphyxiation, but was ruled undetermined. 

According to District Attorney John Gillespie it was the analysis of Dr. Suzanne Dakil, Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center that provided key medical evidence to help tie forensic evidence together to the point where investigators felt comfortable charging Staley alone with the crime.

Watch the press conference below:

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