The death message for being hit by a wither skull is usually “was shot by a skull from [Wither]” or, in some versions/contexts, a related wither message like “withered away” if the wither effect itself finishes you off.

What it means

  • If the wither skull impact kills you directly, the game uses the wither-skull style message.
  • If you survive the hit but later die from the wither status effect , the message is “withered away”.

Example

  • Player was shot by a skull from Wither

TL;DR

  • Direct hit kill: “was shot by a skull from [Wither]”.
  • Damage-over-time death: “withered away”.