Babysitter on trial: Did unnecessary Benadryl dose lead to infant's tragic death?
Nov 06, 2024
HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Nearly six years since the death of a 7-month-old baby in military housing, trial has begun for the babysitter charged with manslaughter.
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In opening arguments, prosecutors allege Dixie Denise Villa gave 7-month-old Abigail Lobisch, a fatal dose of Benadryl leading to the infant's death February 23, 2019.
They said the baby was one of four children Villa was watching overnight at her home at Aliamanu Military Reserve. Two of the children were her own, and Villa's two older daughters were not at home.
"Now she had to take care of four small children all by herself so she gave the slightly older ones iPads to watch all night and she gave Abi the fatal dose of Benadryl to make her sleep. Except for Abi there was no waking up from this sleep," said Deputy Prosecuting Attorney, Tiffany Kaeo.
The prosecution said the medical examiner determined the infant had twice the fatal amount of diphenhydramine in her blood. While they said no one will testify during the trial that they witnessed Villa give her the Benadryl, prosecutors argued there was no one else who could have done it.
However, the defense argued that testimony will show there is no concrete evidence proving how or why Abigail died.
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"You are going to hear testimony that will convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that no one else but the defendant could have done it. No one else but the defendant could have given Abi that fatal dose of Benadryl and that testimony that will convince you without a reasonable doubt is going to come from the experts," said Kaeo.
"Throughout this trial you're going to hear me ask several witnesses tell us how Abigail Lobisch died," said defense attorney Megan Kau. "We discovered no evidence of the form of what was given to Abigail Lobisch, whether it was a pill, liquid or topical cream. We found no evidence of when it was given, whether it was days ago or over a span of time. We have no evidence of how many doses were given. We have no evidence of who gave it. And therefore, I cannot tell you what happened."
"At the end of this trial we will ask you to find Denise not guilty of manslaughter because nobody can tell us what happened," Kau said to jurors.
Villa has been out on bail since her arrest in 2019. Her trial has been postponed over a dozen times due to Covid and witness unavailability.
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The jury trial is expected to take about a week. The baby's mother, Anna Lobisch, is expected to testify and Villa is expected to take the stand in her defense.