Woman charged in death of baby denied release

A circuit 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 for Dixie Denise Villa at Circuit Court Wednesday. An Oahu grand jury indicted her for manslaughter in August in the death of Abigail Lobisch.

The baby’s mother, Anna Lobisch, attended Wednesday’s hearing.

To’oto’o deemed her a flight risk because she has family members on the mainland. He also noted concerns involving three recorded jailhouse telephone conversations which the state claimed showed Villa’s potential for witness tampering.

The court has some concerns based on the phone conversations that the defendant may engage in illegal activity, To’oto’o said during the hearing.

Villa’s court-appointed attorney, Megan Kau, sought supervised release and alternatively a bail reduction to $50,000 from $500,000, saying Villa is not likely to reoffend.

Deputy prosecutor Tiffany Kaeo argued $500,000 is reasonable and claimed Villa has shown a potential to obstruct justice.

To’oto’o reduced her bail to $200,000.

Villa remains in custody at the Oahu Community Correctional Center and is set to go to trial 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 Disney’s Aulani resort in Ko Olina before they returned to Villa’s home at the Aliamanu Military Reservation.

While at her residence, Villa told investigators 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.

During the hearing, Kaeo claimed Villa’s potential for witness tampering based on some recorded jailhouse telephone conversations. “The state has put forth sufficient evidence via those jail calls that she is a person that shows she’s a serious risk to obstruct or attempt to obstruct justice and/or she would engage in illegal activity,” she said.

Outside of the courtroom after the hearing ended, Kau said, “The conversations that they referred to in the calls were not discussing illegal activity.”

Another hearing is scheduled to be held in December to address a media request to release a copy of Villa’s recorded telephone jailhouse conversations that the state recently entered into evidence to the court.