A Hawaii woman was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for killing a 7-month-old girl in 2019.
Abigail Lobisch, a baby under Dixie Villa’s care, tragically passed away after being given a lethal amount of diphenhydramine, found in Benadryl, according to KKTV. The incident occurred when Villa was looking after the infant overnight at Aliamanu Military Reservation in Oahu.
Reports indicated that Lobisch had double the deadly levels of Benadryl in her system at the time of her death. The Honolulu medical examiner attributed Lobisch’s passing to “diphenhydramine toxicity” and highlighted that children below the age of six should not receive this medication without a doctor’s consent.
As per The Star Advertiser, Villa operated an unlicensed daycare at her residence. Lobisch’s mother had entrusted her baby and her 2-year-old son to a Disney resort and spa in Ko Olina. Villa’s kids and the two siblings spent the day together at the pool before heading to Villa’s house later in the afternoon.
Villa reportedly treated the children for sunburns and fed them before putting them to bed at 10 p.m. She told police that Lobisch didn’t wake up through the night, which she thought was odd but attributed it to being in the sun all day. It wasn’t until 8 a.m. the next day that she saw Lobisch lying facedown, and her skin appeared “splotchy” and “cold to the touch.”
The Star Advertiser reported that Lobisch was sleeping in bed with Villa and her two children. Rigor mortis had set in by the time she was discovered.
An initial report stated that Lobisch had nearly twice the fatal dose of Benadryl in blood in her heart — or 2400 ng/mL. The fatal dose for infants is 1400 ng/mL. Children younger than six should not take the drug without a physician’s approval. A subsequent autopsy report clarified that she had more 5,000 ng/mL in a tested urine specimen, suggesting some of the antihistamine medication had already passed through her system. The document also described the infant as well-developed and well-nourished.
Villa was convicted of manslaughter and given the maximum sentence of 20 years. A parole board will decide how long she will have to serve before she is eligible for parole.
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