Parents in Clovis charged in death of 1-year-old

A mother and father from Clovis are charged in the death of a 1-year-old boy who doctors believe was battered and strangled.

Donna Phillips, 23, and Onesimus Skywater, 34, are each charged with intentional abuse of a child resulting in death.

The child died in late 2024 and an initial autopsy found the baby had “major blunt trauma” to his head but listed the cause of death as “undetermined.” A doctor specializing in child abuse reviewed the findings and, on Sept. 8, told police the body showed signs of “abusive head trauma” and “a strangulation event.”

“These findings are diagnostic of severe, life-threatening physical abuse,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed in Clovis Magistrate Court.

Phillips and Skywater are behind bars at the Curry County Adult Detention Center. Police said the other siblings have been placed in foster care.

The Clovis Police Department said the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department removed the couple’s children from the home when the baby was born because he tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the affidavit. But, in October 2024, CYFD placed the baby and his siblings — who had been in foster care for a year — back into the home “for a ‘trial run’ before placing the kids back permanently.”

Less than two months later, on Nov. 27, police were called after the baby died at the home and had “significant bruising” across 70% of his body, the affidavit states. Phillips told police the bruising was from rough play with the baby’s siblings while Skywater said it was from falling out of a highchair at the family’s home.

Police said they learned that a social worker with ENMRSH, a nonprofit provider in Clovis, had been in the home a day before the baby died and had been providing services to the family. It wasn’t until April 2025 that police received the autopsy report that found the baby had trauma to the head but listed the death as undetermined.

The affidavit states that prosecutors with the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office contacted a doctor specializing in “child abuse pediatrics” to review the case. On Sept. 8 police received a 15-page report from the doctor finding the boy had, among other injuries, “traumatic brain and spine injury” with evidence of multiple blows to the head and strangulation.

The doctor said in the report that the number of injuries was “well beyond the realm of what would be expected from accidental play,” according to the affidavit. The doctor noted that there were prior domestic violence calls to the home involving strangulation.

“Domestic violence associated strangulation is one of the strongest predictors of later homicide,” the affidavit states.

The doctor concluded the report with, “regardless of which injury/injuries were the ultimate cause, the totality of the findings present are diagnostic of fatal physical abuse.”