The Death of Skyler Wilson
On Jan. 5, 2023, the Surry County EMS was dispatched to the home of Jodi and Joseph Wilson in Mt. Airy, North Carolina. A call had come in reporting a child had a seizure in the home. When the first responders arrived, they found four-year-old Skyler Wilson unresponsive and not breathing on his own. Four days later, the boy passed away at Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem. His cause of death was listed as a hypoxic brain injury caused by restriction that prevented oxygen to the brain. His doctor at the hospital told police that these brain injuries were consistent with “too much restriction” during the swaddling technique.
Most of us are familiar with the term swaddling in regards to using it with infants. It involves wrapping a baby snugly in a blanket. But rolling over while being swaddled has been linked to an increased likelihood of SIDS deaths, so it is not encouraged for an infant that is old enough to roll over on its own.
When police began investigating Skyler’s death, they issued a court order requesting records from the Surry County Department of Social Services for Skyler and his brother. Both boys had been placed with the couple in September of 2021, and the Wilsons had “fostered” three children prior to the boys.
Investigative reporting uncovered that Skyler’s former foster mother had grown concerned about the safety of the boys and reached out to the Surry County DSS on Dec. 7, 2022. She told detectives that Jodi Wilson, then age 38, had discussed using the swaddling technique known as “pouching,” food restriction, gating Skyler in his room for extended periods of alone time, and exorcisms of both the children. Court records did not indicate a follow-up visit from Social Services, or an investigation that took place as a result of this former foster mother’s concerns.
Police obtained a search warrant of the Wilsons’ home that included computers, multiple cameras, duct tape wrappings, and Skyler’s medical records, among other items. They found wrist and ankle braces as well. Joseph later claimed the straps were used to keep Skyler in place during the swaddling sessions. Evidence from both Jodi and Joseph’s cell phones showed messages she sent through Facebook that read, “see video . . . about to tie him up and swaddle him again.”
Joseph Wilson, who was 41 at the time, worked as a chiropractor at a business in Mt. Airy called Affordable Wellness. His clients knew him as Dr. Joe. It appears that business has now permanently closed. Employees at Affordable Wellness told police that Joseph would look at video footage from his home on his cell phone. They had also witnessed him using office computers to search for “alternative” parenting techniques, and he had been recording Zoom sessions with a woman named Nancy Thomas, a woman who bills herself as an expert in attachment therapy and holding therapy.
Nancy Thomas is not a licensed medical doctor, psychiatrist, or therapist. Her methods were shared in a 1990 HBO documentary titled “Child of Rage.” She shared her experience with her adoptive daughter Beth Thomas, who she says had Reactive Attachment Disorder. According to the Mayo Clinic, Reactive Attachment Disorder is defined as “a rare but serious condition in which an infant or young child doesn’t establish healthy attachments with parents or caregivers. Reactive attachment disorder may develop if the child’s basic needs for comfort, affection, and nurturing aren’t met and loving, caring, stable attachments are not established.”
Re-parenting suggests children should be treated like a baby or toddler in an attempt to create a new bond between the child and caregiver to replace those that were not formed with their birth parent or caregiver. This article also states The American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children held a task force on attachment theory and in 2006, wrote: Assessment for attachment problems requires considerable diagnostic knowledge and skill, to accurately recognize attachment problems and to rule out competing diagnoses.”
When Fox 8 News reached out to Nancy Thomas about the death of Skyler Wilson, she said the following: “I am shocked and saddened to hear the sad news of this little one passing away. Since I have no knowledge of the incident, I am unable to give a comment. I am willing to assist law enforcement if they have any questions.”
Jodi and Joe Wilson were arrested and charged with the murder of Skyler Wilson. In late October 2024, Joe Wilson was charged with another count of felonious child abuse.
The court listing says he was charged under North Carolina Criminal Statute 14-318.4 which states, “A parent or any other person providing care to or supervision of a child less than 16 years of age who intentionally inflicts any serious physical injury upon or to the child or who intentionally commits an assault upon the child which results in any serious physical injury to the child is guilty of a Class D felony.”
The defendants have been through several lawyers at this point, resulting in numerous delays, and a trial date has not been set as of this posting.
This case first appeared in Episode 82 of the podcast Missing in the Carolinas titled “Deaths of Children with Special Needs.”