Babysitter Who Gave Baby Lethal Dose of Benadryl Found Guilty of Manslaughter 5 Years After Infant's Death

A babysitter in Hawaii has been found guilty of manslaughter in the 2019 death of a 7-month-old baby girl.

According to local media outlets Star-Advertiser, KITV and KHON2, an Oahu Circuit Court jury found Dixie Villa guilty of manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, on Friday, Nov. 15.

Villa was charged with manslaughter in July 2019 after an autopsy report showed that 7-month-old Abigail Lobisch — who was found dead at Villa’s home on Feb. 24, 2019 — died of diphenhydramine (an antihistamine found in Benadryl) toxicity.

Villa was immediately taken into custody following her guilty verdict after being free on bail since 2019, per the Star-Advertiser and KITV. Her bail was raised to $500,000.

“A child is gone and there’s no bringing her back, but we hope that this offers closure and peace to everybody who’s been affected by this case,” deputy prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo said during Villa’s trial, according to the latter outlet.

Villa’s defense attorney Megan Kau said she will file a motion for a mistrial because the deputy prosecutor told the court Friday that new evidence had emerged that Abigail’s mother, Anna Lobisch, co-slept with her, per the Star-Advertiser. Kau argued that it is an issue if Anna lied during her testimony and the prosecution withheld information.

“We’re going to ask the court to determine that this was a mistrial, to set aside the guilty verdict and set a new trial,” Kau said, per KITV.

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During the trial, Kau argued that others, including Anna and Abigail’s father, could have given diphenhydramine to Abigail, while she said Anna also could have had the drug in her system from taking Tylenol and then breastfeeding Abigail.

But Kaeo said Villa was the only person capable of administering the drug and said she was overwhelmed at having to look after three other children at the same time —  Abigail’s 2-year-old brother and two of her own children, who were also under the age of 5 — and had pacified the older kids with iPads and Abigail with the drug, per the Star-Advertiser.