According to multiple reports, a woman who ran an unlicensed day care out of a Hawaii military base was sentenced to the maximum 20 years in prison for fatally poisoning an infant. In November, jurors convicted defendant Dixie Denise Villa of manslaughter.
“I’ll never hear her call me mama,” 7-month-old Abigail’s mother, Anna Lobisch, told The Military Times on Wednesday.
According to authorities, Villa operated an unlicensed day care out of a home in the Aliamanu Military Reservation, a military base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, despite multiple closures by officials. All of this came to a tragic end on February 23, 2019. Abigail died from an overdose of diphenhydramine, an antihistamine that is the active ingredient in the medication Benadryl. Prosecutors stated that children under the age of six should never receive that medication without a doctor’s prescription.
“The amount of Benadryl found in baby Abi’s blood system shouldn’t be given to any minor, much less a baby seven months old,” Judge Faaunga To’oto’o told The Navy Times. “Those are the facts in this case.”
On Wednesday, Anna Lobisch reportedly stated that it had been more than 2,260 days since her baby’s death, and that “my heart has never stopped hurting.” My life has been defined by grief and loss, and the pain of living without Abi is a burden I will bear every day for the rest of my life, until Abi and I are reunited.”
She reportedly claimed Villa showed no remorse.
Megan Kau, the defense lawyer, asked for probation. She argued that her client posed no threat to the public and that Villa had two children, one of whom had special needs. Villa said she couldn’t care for the children from behind bars.
“A probation sentence will reflect the seriousness of the offense and will promote respect for the law and will provide punishment for Ms. Villa,” Kau allegedly told reporters.
Those two children are reportedly in the care of Villa’s ex-husband, an active-duty sailor. Ultimately, the judge agreed with the prosecution’s request for the maximum sentence.