NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The mother of Joe Clyde Daniels has said next to nothing about what happened to her son but now she's going public in an exclusive interview with NewsChannel 5.
Only two people may know for sure what happened to Joe Clyde: His father, who is charged with killing him, and Krystal Daniels, who is accused of failing to protect him.
NewsChannel 5's Nick Beres spoke to Krystal by phone from her cell in the Dickson County Jail, where she remains on $1 million bond. Her son disappeared from their home in April of 2018.
His body has never been found.
"He was a very sweet child," said Daniels who added she misses her son Joe Clyde. "It's extremely hard ... extremely hard," said Daniels.
I asked her about that night and she told me her husband, Joseph, woke her to say Joe Clyde had wandered out of the house again and disappeared.
Her husband has since confessed and then recanted to killing the boy. He was charged with murder.
“Do you know what happened to your son,” I asked.
“No, I really don't,” Daniels responded.
“Do you believe your husband killed him?”
“I don't know. I really don't. If I did everybody else would have an answer.”
Krystal is not accused of killing her son, but she was booked for aggravated child neglect.
"They think I didn't do anything. Like if he did do something to him, they said I didn't do anything for him,"said Daniels. In other words, it's alleged Daniels failed to protect her son from her husband.
She said that's a false conclusion, that she's only spoken to TBI agents once and claims they pressured her.
"I mean, all I can really say is the TBI, they have a way of working that makes people feel like crap."
And now Daniels feels many, including investigators, are making the wrong assumptions. Police do believe Joe Clyde is dead, but despite multiple searches, his body's never been found.
When asked if she knows what happened to her son Daniels said, "No, I really don't." When asked if she believed her husband killed him she said, "I don't know. I really don't. If I did everybody else would have an answer.
"I'm not the type of person to keep something in like that. If I knew, everybody else would know."
So, what happened the night Joe Clyde disappeared from their home?
"All I know is that Joseph woke me up and said Joe got out of the house again," said Daniels.
Daniels said her son had a history of wandering away. After that, all she knew was that Joe Clyde was gone. This does contradict what a TBI agent said during the preliminary hearing last year.
He testified that Daniels told him she heard a painful scream and saw her husband standing over the boy. And that her husband told her if she told anybody he'd kill her; so then she went back to bed.
So, there are contradictions to her story. A jury will decide what to believe. For now, Krystal still holds out hope that perhaps Joe Clyde was abducted and may still be alive somewhere.
"I'm not sure. I'm really not. I sit and pray every day that something would turn up. Or, if someone does have him that someone one would come forward and me be able to hold my baby in my arms again," she said.
Daniels says there is little or no evidence that Joe Clyde is even dead, much less she and her husband killed him.
She also thinks there's been an unfair rush to judgment in the case.
