Left inset: Dixie Denise Villa in court. Right inset: Abigail Lobisch. Background: The Hawaii military reservation where Villa gave Abigail Lobisch a fatal dose of Benadryl (Hawaii News Now/YouTube).
The U.S. Army has agreed to a $900,000 settlement with the parents of a 7-month-old girl who died after receiving a lethal dose of Benadryl at an “unauthorized” daycare operating from a home on a Hawaii military base.
Anna Lobisch and James Lobisch, an Army National Guard member, filed a lawsuit against the Army in 2020 following the February 2019 death of their daughter, Abigail. She died at the Aliamanu Military Reservation, a “privatized military housing community” on Oahu that is “administratively controlled by U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii,” according to federal court documents.
Abigail was in the care of Dixie Denise Villa, an unlicensed daycare operator who was convicted of manslaughter in 2024 and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The parents argued that the defendants were responsible for Abigail’s death because they failed to stop Villa, an Aliamanu resident, from running an unauthorized childcare business out of her home on the military installation. The Justice Department outlined those allegations in an August petition seeking approval of the $900,000 settlement.
“In 2017 and 2018 there were various reports made regarding unauthorized childcare in the Villa home, and in response the Army sent multiple cease-and-desist letters,” the filing states. On Saturday, February 23, 2019, Anna Lobisch left Abigail with Villa overnight. The baby slept in Villa’s bed. The following morning, Villa found Abigail cold and unresponsive and called 911. Investigators determined that Abigail died after Villa administered a lethal amount of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl.
Prosecutors said children younger than 6 should not receive diphenhydramine without a doctor’s direction.
“The amount of Benadryl found in the blood system of baby Abi shouldn’t be given to any minor, much less to a baby seven months old,” Judge Faaunga To’oto’o said during Villa’s May 2025 sentencing, according to The Navy Times. “Those are the facts in this case.”
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Speaking to reporters after Villa was sentenced, Anna Lobisch said the loss of her daughter had left her in enduring pain. “My life has been defined by grief and loss and the pain of living without Abi is a heavy weight I will carry every single day for the rest of my life until Abi and I are finally reunited,” she said, according to The Military Times. “I’ll never hear her call me mama.”
The complaint filed by the Lobisch family accused Villa of failing to provide safe care. Witnesses reportedly saw “multiple children crying and screaming, without adult supervision, in the backyard of the facility.” On another occasion, a young boy was seen crying after getting his head stuck in a play structure, according to the lawsuit.
“[The boy] had been essentially abandoned until other little children were able to free him,” the complaint stated.
Abigail’s parents and prosecutors alleged that Villa gave the infant a lethal dose of Benadryl to make her “lose consciousness.”
“At all times, defendants … knew or should have known that Ms. Villa’s illegal child care business was exposing children to unreasonable risks, and thus had a duty to notify Child Protective Services, but failed to do so,” the Lobisch lawsuit alleged.
The Lobisch family also sued Island Palm Communities, the contractor that owned and managed Villa’s housing, in addition to pursuing claims against the Army. Court records show that the parties said on Oct. 9 they were “continuing to work on finalizing their settlement agreement terms and conditions” involving Island Palm Communities and the family.
The post Baby who couldn’t sleep was given ‘lethal dose’ of Benadryl by woman running ‘unauthorized’ daycare on military base, now the Army is paying for it: Docs first appeared on Law & Crime.