Six years after the baby's death in military housing, the babysitter is on trial

Nearly six years after the death of a 7-month-old baby in military housing in Hawaii, the child's babysitter, a Marine wife, is scheduled to stand trial Monday in Hawaii's civilian court system on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Dixie Denise Villa was arrested on July 20, 2019 in connection with the death of Abigail Lobisch, who was found dead on February 24, 2019 in Villa's home on the Aliamanu Military Reservation in Hawaii.

Villa pleaded not guilty in August 2019.

According to court documents, the trial was postponed at least 13 times.

“It was a painful, long and tiring wait,” Anna Lobisch, Abigail’s mother, told Military Times. “But we are ready to finally move forward and hopefully get justice for Abi.”

Abigail's father, James Lobisch, is a member of the Army National Guard.

An overdose of antihistamine was the cause of Abigail Lobisch's illness death, court records show.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the coroner's report found that the baby's blood tested positive for diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl and other similar medications, at a concentration of 2,400 nanograms per milliliter. That's nearly double the concentration of 1,400 nanograms per milliliter reported on average in fatal overdoses in infants, according to the affidavit.

In September 2019, after the baby's death, the Defense Department's human resources chief asked officials to investigate reports of unlicensed daycare operations at facilities. James Stewart, then assistant secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said officials should take appropriate steps to stop these unauthorized operations.

To operate a family day care home on a military installation, providers must be authorized, go through a vetting and training process, and meet requirements related to safety inspections, curriculum, nutrition and a variety of other regulations.

Due to the death of Abigail Lobisch, Army Hawaii launched an investigation into unauthorized child care on its bases. According to an investigative report obtained by Military Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, investigators found a disjointed system of response by various agencies to the reports of alleged violations and a lack of clear procedures for dealing with the violations.

The report said a number of factors contributed to the proliferation of unauthorized child care providers, including the lack of available child care. More than 500 Army children were on waiting lists for child care in Hawaii in 2018.