Joseph and Jodi Wilson pleaded guilty to murder and child-abuse charges more than three years after Skyler Wilson died.

DOBSON, N.C. — A North Carolina couple will spend roughly 32 to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty in the death of their 4-year-old adopted son, who prosecutors said was restrained face down with a bedsheet and duct tape for several hours before suffering a fatal brain injury.

Joseph Paul Wilson and Jodi Ann Wilson entered their pleas July 8 in Surry County Superior Court, bringing a criminal case that began after Skyler Wilson was taken from the family’s Mount Airy home during a medical emergency in January 2023. Both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. Joseph Wilson also pleaded guilty to felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. The couple waived their rights to appeal the convictions and sentences under their plea agreements.

The sentences were structured in separate parts. Each defendant received 300 to 372 months, or 25 to 31 years, for second-degree murder. They also received consecutive terms of 84 to 113 months, or seven to nearly 9½ years, for the conspiracy conviction. Joseph Wilson received an additional sentence of 125 to 162 months for felony child abuse, but that term will run at the same time as the murder sentence. The combined active punishment for each parent is 384 to 485 months, or about 32 to 40 years. Both received credit for 1,272 days already spent in custody.

The pleas resolved the case without a trial and replaced the original murder accusations filed after the child’s death. Second-degree murder does not require prosecutors to prove that a killing was planned in advance, but it treats the death as an unlawful killing committed with malice. By pleading guilty, the Wilsons accepted criminal responsibility for conduct that prosecutors said caused Skyler’s death. The agreements also ended the possibility of a jury trial at which investigators, medical experts and other witnesses could have been called to describe the evidence in open court.

Prosecutors said the events that led to Skyler’s fatal injuries began Jan. 5, 2023, inside the Wilson family’s home. Jodi Wilson wrapped the child in a bedsheet and used duct tape to restrain him face down on the floor, according to an account released by the Surry County District Attorney’s Office and cited by news organizations that reviewed the case. The restraint continued for several hours. Authorities said Joseph Wilson had purchased duct tape and elastic bandages earlier that day for the purpose of restraining the boy.

Joseph Wilson was at work when the restraint began, prosecutors said. When he returned home during his lunch break, he saw Skyler restrained but did not release him. He instead went back to work, according to the district attorney’s account. After Jodi Wilson later removed the restraints, she realized that the boy had been seriously injured. She sent her husband a message that said, “Hurry home, I think I have hurt him.” Joseph Wilson subsequently called 911 and reported that Skyler appeared to be having a seizure.

Emergency medical workers found Skyler unresponsive and took him to Brenner Children’s Hospital in Winston-Salem. He remained hospitalized until Jan. 9, 2023, when he died after being removed from life support. Although some early reports gave different descriptions of the timing of his medical crisis, the district attorney’s later account and subsequent sentencing coverage placed the fatal restraint on Jan. 5 and his death four days later.

An autopsy determined that Skyler suffered a hypoxic-ischemic brain injury caused by compressional and positional asphyxia during the prolonged restraint, according to authorities. A hypoxic-ischemic injury occurs when the brain is deprived of enough oxygen and blood. Prosecutors said the child’s face-down position and the pressure created by the restraint prevented him from breathing normally. Starvation ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition associated with severe lack of nutrition, was listed as a contributing factor. The district attorney’s office said Skyler was undernourished and less able to survive the physical stress.

The medical findings became a central part of the prosecution because they connected the restraint to the child’s death. The case was not presented as an unexplained household medical emergency. Authorities said the evidence showed that Skyler’s condition resulted from prolonged physical restraint and that both defendants participated in the decisions surrounding it. Jodi Wilson carried out the restraint, prosecutors said, while Joseph Wilson obtained materials, saw what was happening and failed to stop it.

Search warrants obtained during the investigation described a broader pattern of harsh treatment in the home. Investigators said the Wilsons had restrained and isolated Skyler and had engaged in practices they described as exorcisms involving him and at least one sibling. Authorities recovered wrist and ankle restraints and reviewed information from electronic devices and home-surveillance recordings. Those materials, prosecutors said, documented conduct before the medical emergency and helped investigators determine that the fatal episode was not an isolated misunderstanding.

The district attorney’s office said the Wilsons had read books describing alternative parenting methods for adopted children. Prosecutors stressed, however, that the couple’s actions went far beyond the practices discussed in those materials. The use of duct tape, hourslong face-down restraint and the denial of adequate nutrition were attributed to choices made by the Wilsons, not to any recognized form of care. The distinction was important because the defendants’ interest in parenting literature did not excuse or lessen the criminal nature of their conduct.

Questions about the family’s treatment of the children had surfaced before Skyler’s death. A former foster parent reported concerns to the Surry County Department of Social Services in December 2022, less than a month before the medical emergency, according to the district attorney’s account. The report raised concerns about food restrictions and other treatment inside the home. Publicly available reports do not fully explain what steps the agency took before Jan. 5, and the criminal case did not establish whether an earlier intervention would have prevented the death.

After Skyler was hospitalized and investigators began examining the home, other children living with the Wilsons were placed in the custody of social services. Their names and current placements have not been publicly disclosed, consistent with protections commonly given to minors in child-welfare cases. The criminal proceedings focused on Skyler’s death and the Wilsons’ conduct rather than the private circumstances of the surviving children.

Joseph and Jodi Wilson were arrested Jan. 13, 2023, days after Skyler died. They remained jailed while the investigation continued and while prosecutors prepared the case. The 1,272 days of credit included in their sentences reflects the time they spent in custody before entering the pleas. Even with that credit, both face decades in state prison under the judgments imposed in Surry County.

The July 8 hearing marked the final scheduled stage of the trial-court prosecution. Because both defendants waived their appeal rights as part of the agreements, no direct appeal of the convictions or sentences is expected. The surviving children remain protected from public identification, and officials have not released additional information about their current circumstances.

Author note: Last updated August 3, 2026.