A former babysitter has been sentenced to 20 years in prison following her manslaughter conviction in the 2019 overdose death of a 7-month-old baby in privatized military housing in Hawaii.
Dixie Denise Villa, 46, was sentenced Wednesday in Hawaii civilian court, more than six years after baby Abigail Lobisch died on Feb. 23, 2019, from an antihistamine overdose in Villa’s unlicensed daycare at her house at Aliamanu Military Reservation in Honolulu.
“It’s been more [than] 2,260 days and all that time my heart has never stopped hurting,” said Abigail’s mother, Anna Lobisch, during the sentencing hearing, according to a video of the hearing posted by Court TV. “My life has been defined by grief and loss and the pain of living without Abi is a heavy weight I will carry every single day for the rest of my life until Abi and I are finally reunited.”
Anna Lobisch described her daughter as “a sweet baby, so loving, so full of life. She had the kindest eyes, and anyone who met her instantly fell in love with her.”
“I’ll never hear her call me mama,” she said.
A jury in Hawaii’s civilian court system convicted Villa of manslaughter in November.
At the time of Abigail Lobisch’s death, Villa was operating an unlicensed daycare out of her house after being shut down multiple times by base officials.
A divorce case involving Villa and her husband, who was active duty Navy at the time of the incident, is listed as pending in Hawaii court documents.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit submitted by a Honolulu Police detective, the medical examiner determined that the baby’s blood tested positive for diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl and other similar medications, at a level of 2,400 nanograms per milliliter. That’s nearly twice the 1,400 nanograms per milliliter concentration that is the average reported in infant fatal overdoses, according to the affidavit.
Military family child care provided in homes on military installations requires certification from installation officials and is highly regulated with requirements for training and safety, inspections and curriculum.
In September 2019, in the wake of Abigail Lobisch’s death, the Defense Department’s personnel chief called for officials to investigate reports of unauthorized daycare operations on installations. James Stewart, then-acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said officials should take appropriate steps to shut down unauthorized operations.
The medical testimony in the case was clear, Judge Fa’auuga To’oto’o said during Villa’s sentencing Wednesday.
“The amount of Benadryl found in the blood system of baby Abi shouldn’t be given to any minor, much less to a baby seven months old. Those are the facts in this case,” he said.
“The family waited six years for justice,” Honolulu prosecuting attorney Steve Alm said in an announcement of Villa’s sentencing. “We appreciate Judge To’oto’o’s decision in this case. Our keiki [children] are vulnerable and those who care for them should be held accountable when they harm them.”
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
