Joseph Daily

Tristan Daily's Story

UPDATE: Parole has been rescinded for baby killer Joseph Daily. Daily will have a rehearing on November 13, 2025. We will be launching another petition closer to the date of the hearing. Please follow our Facebook Page for updates. Thank you to everyone who submitted a petition to oppose Daily’s parole. Rest In Peace Tristan Daily. You will never be forgotten.

A Sweet Loving Child

Tristan Daily was seven weeks old and was the first child for his parents, Carri and Joseph Daily.

All who knew Tristan agreed he was a beautiful baby. He had olive skin, dark hair, and deep brown eyes. He was a sweet, loving child who enjoyed being held, taking baths, and having his cheeks lightly stroked. Tristan’s favorite time of day was when his mother would sing to him. He cooed and had a huge smile every time his mom would begin a song.

Tristan was loved by everyone who met him, with one exception – his father, Joseph Daily.

Unimaginable Rage

Joseph Daily, an ex-marine, did not want his seven-month-old son Tristan. He blamed his wife, Carri, for having a baby to keep him in his marriage. In a fit of rage in 1995, he told his wife, “I hate this f**king kid, I wish we never had him.”

Daily told the California Parole Board in 2025, “I resented just having a child, I resented being a father, I resented being a husband and having the responsibilities. I resented everything about my life, and I took it out on Carri and Tristan.” Daily took his resentment out on his wife by verbally and emotionally abusing her. He took his resentment out on Tristan by secretly torturing and physically abusing him.

Daily’s abuse of Tristan culminated on the night of May 5, 1995. It was supposed to be a relaxing evening at home, consisting of having dinner and renting a movie from Blockbuster Video. Tristan’s mother, who was working as a full-time insurance adjuster to support her family, arrived home from work. Tristan was just waking up from his nap. Carri walked in the door and headed towards the bedroom to pick up Tristan. Joseph said he would take care of the baby, and she should go rent the movie since she already had her shoes on and was “ready to go.” Carri agreed and headed to the video store down the street.

According to Tristan’s mother, “I didn’t think anything of it. Joseph was in a good mood, Tristan was in a good mood, and so was I. I thought we were all just happy, the work week was over, and we could have a cozy night home together watching movies on the couch.”

Joseph Daily proceeded to Tristan’s bedroom. He took Tristan, who needed his diaper changed, to the bathroom and placed a blanket on the floor between the sink and the wall that led into the bathroom. Daily removed his son’s diaper. Tristan urinated, and some of the urine went in Joseph Daily’s face. All parents know this is very common, and they deal with it calmly. Joseph Daily used the incident as an opportunity to unleash his pent-up rage on a nine-pound baby.

According to Daily, at his 2020 parole board hearing, “I reached down and grabbed him by the shoulders in a firm grip. I lifted him up. I shook him violently four or five, six times. And I turned around the wall just right there. And I slammed his back against the wall. The back of his head hit. His whole backside made contact with the wall.”

Daily elaborated further at his 2025 parole hearing, “His eyes opened up really wide and he took a deep breath and he started struggling to breathe after that and his eyes were — had blinking, blinking open and closed. I could tell that he couldn’t breathe. Um, I breathed the breath into his mouth, his eyes popped back open again, and that’s when I realized that I just killed my son.”

Pain and Suffering

When Carri returned home, she was met by a frantic apartment manager who told her an ambulance had taken Tristan to the hospital. She immediately drove to the emergency room and was met by Tristan’s father in the waiting room. Joseph Daily said Tristan had just stopped breathing for no reason. That was a lie.

Shortly thereafter, a social worker came to meet with Tristan’s parents to ask about the details of what had happened to Tristan. Joseph Daily told her and every other medical professional that night that Tristan had simply gone limp and stopped breathing. Sometimes he described the baby’s eyes rolling back in his head, and sometimes he said he went limp, but nothing else. More lies.

Later that night, Carri and Joseph were taken back to see Tristan. He was unconscious with monitors and surgical tape all over his little body. His mouth was open in an unnatural way. There was no visible bruising, and everyone fully believed every word Joseph Daily said at that time.

Hospital staff asked Tristan’s parents for any medical history that might help them save Tristan’s life. Carri told them that Tristan was a healthy baby. She told them he was always healthy, and the doctor never expressed any concerns at any of his well-baby visits. They were asked if Tristan could have accidentally been hurt. Tristan’s father said no. Another lie.

The next day, a team of medical professionals was desperately trying to save Tristan’s life. Testing, scanning, and trying to figure out why a perfectly healthy baby would stop breathing for no reason. The medical team, through their heroic efforts to save Tristan, finally discovered the true cause of Tristan’s trauma.

Tristan’s mother states, “I clearly remember the moment the chief doctor came to meet with Joseph and me privately. The doctor stood in front of us and held his arms out in front of my face, like he was holding an imaginary child in his arms. He was viciously shaking his arms and yelling in my face that this is what someone did to my son, Tristan. They shook him this hard as he moved his arms even more violently. The doctor was so angry that he was spitting in my face as he yelled it at us. He said scans had been done, which showed he had bleeding behind his eyes, like something that would happen in a terrible car accident.”

Joseph’s first words to Carri after the doctor left the room were that they were going to say he did it. He did not show any grief or compassion for Tristan. He was scared for himself, and he told his wife that the authorities were going to think he hurt Tristan. Joseph Daily then blamed the injuries on Tristan’s 20-year-old babysitter.

A few days after Tristan was beaten and admitted into the hospital, the police came and interviewed his parents. Joseph was annoyed by the police. Tristan’s mother was grateful they were working to find out who had injured her son. Joseph admitted nothing during the interview and continued to deny responsibility for Tristan’s injuries.

A Young Life Lost

As Tristan’s health continued to worsen, the doctors told Tristan’s parents that if he survived, he would have permanent brain damage. Joseph told Carri he “didn’t want a retarded kid.”

Tristan suffered and fought to live for five days in the hospital. He had a bolt inserted into the top of his skull to alleviate the building pressure on his brain. He had needles in his arms with multiple lines running throughout his tiny body. His body began to swell from fluid and air buildup in different places. It became so serious that the doctors had to stab Tristan in his sides with a scalpel to insert tubes to release the air from his abdomen.

Carri recalls, “I was in the room when they punctured my son; there was no local anesthetic administered first. I don’t know what Tristan did or did not feel. Some of the nurses told me he knew I was with him and to talk to him and touch him. One nurse let me sleep in his bed with him. I remember how cold he felt. Another nurse told me he was dying and probably felt nothing. I don’t know. I hope he felt nothing.”

While Tristan’s mother kept a constant vigil at her son’s bedside, his father Joseph was at home playing video games.

Tristan Daily lost his fight to survive on May 9, 1995, and was pronounced deceased at 6:48 A.M.

Extensive Injuries Are Revealed

Daily continued to blame Tristan’s babysitter, a dear friend of Tristan’s mother, for causing the injuries and murdering Tristan. She had only been babysitting Tristan for three days before his murder.

In his 2020 parole review, Daily states, “They asked me if I shook him. I told them, no. I denied it. I denied. I denied. I denied to everyone. I told Carri that the babysitters must’ve done it. I tried to, to place the blame on everybody but myself.”

After Tristan’s death, an autopsy report was performed by Deputy Medical Examiner Leena Jariwala. The report was 11 pages and detailed numerous new and old injuries. Injuries that would not have been visible to Tristan’s family or his pediatrician. The injuries included the following:

• Right optic nerve hemorrhage. This was bleeding of the optic disc in the eye. An optic nerve hemorrhage is serious because it can cause vision loss.
• Subgaleal bruises. Subgaleal hemorrhage is a rare and potentially lethal medical emergency. Essentially, a baby can bleed out in their head and die from the blood loss.
• Compression fractures L2 and L3. A compression fracture in the L2 and L3 vertebrae refers to fractures in the lower part of the lumbar spine (upper back), which occurred due to trauma. The symptoms are severe back pain that may feel better with rest but is painful when twisting or bending.
• Multiple healing metaphyseal corner fractures (about 2-4 weeks), long bones. Multiple fractures on the long bones. Having several fractures in different long bones at various stages of healing is a significant red flag for child abuse, as it is unlikely to occur from a single accidental injury.
• Frenulum, lacerations (a few weeks old). The labial frenulum is a thin membrane of tissue that connects the upper lip to the gums.

Medical experts concluded that Tristan was subjected to severe, calculated abuse, starting when he was approximately three weeks old. He had been shaken violently, his limbs had been twisted, and he suffered internal injuries that left him in constant pain that he could not communicate to those around him. Daily knew why his son was crying. He knew about all of the injuries and the pain. He did absolutely nothing and told no one.

Wrongly Accused

Carri decided to split with her husband after learning of Tristan’s horrific abuse. They agreed to stay together until Tristan’s funeral, and after that, Daily would return with his mother to Kentucky. The day of the funeral, Joseph Daily decided to go golfing before the service, causing both he and Carri to be late to Tristan’s funeral.

As authorities continued to investigate Tristan’s death, Daily continued to falsely accuse Tristan’s babysitter for the abuse that caused Tristan’s injuries.

Tristan’s babysitter stated at Daily’s 2025 parole hearing, “I recall working at Kmart and San Diego PD pulled me off the counter, off the cash register. And they questioned me about what happened to Tristan. And at this time, I’m asking, I’m wondering, what — what’s going on? When I finally realized the severity of everything, now I’m being asked to go to the police department and give a statement and I had to get clarification. Am I there as a witness or am I there as a suspect? Still I went– I went through the lie detector test. I’m 20-years-old, had no clue now that I look back being 50, what I was in for and what I was being accused of. During that period, in the news, there were other deaths of babies occurring, and some of them were babysitters. Now I’m being accused by someone who knows he harmed his own child of murdering a — a baby, it is unbelievable.“ She continued, “I didn’t cry about how this could have affected me until maybe 15 years ago when I was sitting in my house that I owned with my husband and my middle school aged kids at the time [and I realized] that none of this would’ve been possible had things gone differently, and the inmate had his way in getting people to believe that I killed his baby.“

Thankfully, the babysitter was cleared, and the investigation focused on the real murderer – Joseph Daily.

Arrested and Convicted

Once the San Diego Police Department had enough evidence, they contacted Daily, who was now living at his grandmother’s house in Tennessee. He agreed to return to California, and he flew back voluntarily. After he arrived in San Diego, he was charged with the murder of his son Tristan.

Daily opted for a jury trial, likely believing he could lie his way out of a conviction.

During the trial, Joseph Daily tried to explain his actions as acting heroically to save Tristan from choking. He said he shook Tristan and slammed him onto the bed to dislodge what he had been choking on. Tristan was still bottle feeding and not eating food or anything that could have caused him to choke. No evidence supported Daily’s choking claim.

When it was brought up that Tristan had numerous compression fractures, Daily lied and said he also had to sort of sit Tristan down firmly on the bed to try to save his life.

Experts refuted Daily’s claims. They stated Tristan died as a result of shaking as well as blunt trauma to the head which caused a fractured skull.

Daily did not explain the older injuries.

Joseph Daily attempted to fool everyone in the courtroom. The judge and jury saw right through him. On April 22, 1996, he was convicted of murder in the second-degree and cruelty to a child.

On May 15, 1996, Daily was sentenced to 15 years to Life which was the strictest sentence he could be given at that time.

In 2025, Daily admitted to a commissioner at his parole hearing, “Well, um, in the beginning I tried to paint myself as the hero that I was trying to save my son. He was choking and I shook him to save him, that was an absolute lie. That was me, um, trying to protect myself more than I was concerned about what I had done to Tristan. I was trying to minimize my involvement in — in order to protect myself legally. Uh, I lied, I minimized, I hid the truth, I — everybody that I encountered, um, I cared more about myself and the potential trouble that I was facing than I did about telling the truth about what I had done to save my son.”

A Baby Killer’s Confessions

It took over 12 for years for Joseph Daily to finally start admitting what he did to his son.

In 2007 and 2013, Daily admitted at his parole hearings that he shook Tristan’s head.

In 2020, Daily made the following additional statements to the parole board:

• “Um, uh, I began abusing him physically when he was crying, when I couldn’t control the situation. I used abuse to try to control him, to try to stop him from crying, to try to, uh, shoot my stress. I was rough with him.”
• “One day, one day he was crying and I shook him, and he stopped crying. That started it. Um, I believe I did that a few times. I was rough with him. I grabbed him. I twisted his, his arm.”
• “There was one incident when, um, he was crying and I was walking back and forth from the living room into the bedroom. And I was, uh, he was crying and I had a diaper over his mouth. And I was patting his mouth. I realized now that that’s, I was suffocating him. I realized that now.”
• “When I say I shook him a little, that was the previous incidents. When I killed, when I killed my son, I shook him brutally. I grabbed him forcefully and shook him hard. And then I slammed him against the wall.”

At his 2025 parole hearing there were more horrific admissions:

• “Um, the exact level of violence and the number of times that I abused Tristan and, um, I tortured him. And that’s been a word that’s been hard for me to say. But, um, you know, since my last hearing, I — I’ve been working on my ownership and, um, I realized that, you know, I didn’t just abuse him, but I tortured him as well.”
• “Um, the first thing that I did to him was, um, like toss him down into the crib, onto the mattress and kind of bounce him off the mattress. Um, it was — it was in the process of laying him down and I just — from about two feet off the top of the mattress, I just tossed him down. It was, uh, shoving him downwards onto the top of the mattress.”
• “Um, I jerked him by his arms, uh, from while he was in the crib, I jerked him across the crib towards me.  Um, I did that a couple of times and then the abuse just kept escalating — each time. I was probably trying to change him. I was, you know, pulling him towards me. I just yanked on him and jerked him as hard as I could towards me.”
• “Uh, yes. My abuse continued, uh, it — it escalated. Um, I went from jerking him towards me to twisting his arm and, um, I did that a couple times. I, uh, eventually escalated into shaking him.”
• “Uh, I slammed him down leg first into the crib.” [This statement was in response to what caused Tristan’s back and spine injuries]
• “I shook him four times, four separate times.”
• “Yes, I pressed on his, um, upper lip with my thumb very painful. Uh, I pressed on that, that was before I started shaking him, there was a — just a — an amid escalation to my torture. Um, the times that I shook him, uh, the first time, uh, I shook him two or three times, but every time that I shook him after that, I shook him harder and more violently.”
• “I was willing to do anything that I had to do, including hurt people to feel better about myself. Um, it was just a deep seated, uh, self-focus and self- centeredness and took all of that out on Carri and Tristan.”

Poor Rehabilitation Record

In 2020, Joseph Daily stated to the parole board commissioner, “Sir, I understand that I have a horrible disciplinary record. And that my credibility is essentially in the toilet because of that.” He is 100% correct.

Five times Daily was written up for illegally obtaining a cell phone in prison. His most recent phone was obtained in 2020. It was a top-of-the-line iPhone X that cost $1000. He got the money for the phone from his mother. Daily states in his 2020 parole hearing transcript, “I lied to her. I manipulated her to get it.” Later in the exchange, Daily admitted, “And I’ve done it repeatedly.”

In 2025 Daily told a Parole Commissioner, “I used the phones to watch movies, I used the phones to maintain a relationship, I used the phones to connect with, uh, other people, um, just to entertain myself and — and essentially as an escape from my reality, escape from the stress that I was feeling and feeling sorry for myself and, uh, be willing to break the rules to feel better.”

According to Daily, the relationship he maintained was the result of using the cell phones to date women online. That is where he met his former fianceé, who lives in the Philippines. He used the cell phones to video chat with her regularly. In 2025, Daily advised California Parole Board Deputy Commissioner Chakur that the relationship had ended, and no other details were provided.

The last time Daily had a cell phone was May 28, 2020.

In addition to obtaining cell phones, Joseph Daily has been very successful in obtaining drugs in prison.

In 2025, Daily stated at his parole hearing, “My first, uh, two decades in prison, I smoked as much marijuana as I could to avoid and to help me run from what I was responsible for. Um, what made me stop was, uh, I received two, uh, write-ups for positive urinalysis tests for methamphetamines.”

According to Daily, he used meth in prison until 2016.

Since May 28, 2020, Daily has had only a few minor infractions in prison, and for that, we commend him. That being said, Daily started improving his behavior only when he became realistically eligible for parole. When he had something to gain. For over 20 years, he was not abiding by the rules and had several major violations involving cell phones and drugs. At this point, we believe Daily needs to maintain many more years of a clean, exemplary record before he is even considered for release.

No Parole

Joseph Daily tortured and brutally murdered his seven-week-old son, Tristan. After Tristan’s death, Daily showed absolutely no remorse for his actions and attempted to blame Tristan’s death on others before he was arrested and charged with murder. Joseph Daily opted to be tried by a jury and was found guilty of killing his son. Daily only decided to take responsibility for his actions when he believed he had a good chance at parole. In addition, he has had multiple serious prison infractions involving cell phones and drugs. Daily was scheduled to be paroled in March of 2025 until it was discovered he was communicating with a minor while incarcerated. His parole was reversed, and he is now up for parole once again.

Releasing Joseph Daily at this time would be a complete injustice to Tristan Daily and would demean the cruelty he has inflicted upon him. In addition, placing Joseph Daily back on the streets would pose an immeasurable risk to the community, especially young children. Based on the horrific nature of his crime, his poor prison history, and the fact that he was communicating with a minor while in prison, we believe Joseph Daily should remain incarcerated. To further the interests of justice and to protect society, we urge the California Parole Board to deny parole for inmate Joseph Daily.