Babysitter receives a maximum penalty

Honolulu (Hawaiinewsnow/Gray News) – A babysitter who was found guilty for a Benadryl overdose for a little girl was sentenced on Wednesday.

Dixie Denise Villa received the maximum penalty for homicide – 20 years in prison.

The Villa Babyscase overnight in 2019 7-month-old Abigail-Lobisch, when the child died of a fatal dose of diphenhydramine, died an ingredient in Benadryl.

Death occurred in the Alianu Military Reserve, a military base and a residential area in Oahu, Hawaii.

The deputy prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo informed the court that the villa deserved the maximum sentence.

“This medication should not be given any child under the age of 6 without medical instructions,” said Kaeo.

A pediatrician also said that Benadryl is not marketed for babies and that the packaging is usually: “Not for the use of 2 years, except for the direct monitoring and recommendation of a doctor.”

Villa's lawyer, Megan Kau, argued that Villa was sentenced to probation. Kau said that the villa was not a danger to the public and could not take care of its own two children, one of whom has special needs behind bars.

In the end, the judge of the Circuit Court FAUNTA to'oto'o approved the public prosecutor and gave the maximum 20-year prison sentence.

“This was a difficult process,” he said. “The facts and the law here are clear. This should not have happened.”

Toto'o continued: “These are the factors that the court must take into account, as well as appropriate, and the only judgment that is noticeable in this case is that the accused must be sentenced to 20 years in prison.”

Anna Lobisch, the baby's mother's mother, told the court that she grieves since her child.

“My heart never stopped hurt,” said Lobisch through tears. “The loss and pain, without living abby, is a heavy weight that I will wear every day for the rest of my life until Abby and I are finally united again.”

The probation of probation will determine how many years of villa in prison must serve before it is entitled to probation.

The villa had asked for a new procedure and claimed that the evidence had been held back, and the child's mother log at the stand on the co-sleeping with the baby and thus questioned its credibility.

A judge filed this application last month that newly acquired evidence had not changed the jury's judgment.

Villa's lawyer says she is planning to appeal against the conviction.

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