Woman charged in death of baby at Aliamanu day care denied supervised release

A Circuit Court judge denied a request for supervised release pending trial for a 41-year-old woman charged in the antihistamine overdose death of a 7-month old girl at an Aliamanu home day care.

Judge Fa’auuga To’oto’o denied the request today for Dixie Denise Villa who a grand jury indicted in August with manslaughter in the death of Abigail Lobisch.

He deemed her a flight risk because she has family members on the mainland.

To’oto’o also noted concerns over some of Villa’s recorded jailhouse telephone conversations that a deputy prosecutor claimed show Villa’s risk of witness tampering.

The judge, however, granted a request for a bail reduction to $200,000 from $500,000.

Villa’s trial is scheduled to be held in January.

Police said Lobisch and her 2-year-old brother were left overnight in Villa’s care Feb. 23.

The children, as well as Villa’s two children, spent the day at the pool at Aulani Resort in Ko Olina before they returned to Villa’s home at the Aliamanu Military Reservation.

While at home, Villa told investigators that she applied lotion on the children for a sunburn.

Sometime after 8 a.m. the next day, she called 911 after finding Lobisch unresponsive. Emergency responders tried to revive the baby and took her to Tripler Army Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

A medical examiner found high levels of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, in Lobisch’s blood.