A Cherokee County woman has been sentenced to 37 years after admitting she killed and mutilated a 2-year-old girl whose body was later found in a storage bin, a case that prosecutors say involved lethal levels of over-the-counter medications and a disturbing attempt to hide what happened.
Prosecutors say 44-year-old Phillissa Diallo pleaded guilty to killing 2-year-old Alyssa Rose Davis, who was discovered in December 2022. An autopsy showed lethal amounts of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine in the child's system. A judge ordered Diallo to serve 37 years, with the first 21 years to be spent in prison.
According to Atlanta News First, Davis's mother had left the toddler in Diallo's care for more than two weeks and did not learn her child was dead until investigators contacted her. The Cherokee County district attorney's office said surveillance video recovered by police showed Diallo leaving the toddler alone for long stretches in the days leading up to the death, a pattern prosecutors pointed to as part of the evidence supporting the guilty plea.
Legal Charges And How Georgia Law Applies
Diallo pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to children and concealing the death of another, a trio of charges that carry heavy penalties under Georgia law. OCGA § 16-5-70, as summarized by Justia, defines cruelty to children and explains how second-degree offenses arise from criminal negligence that causes a child cruel or excessive physical or mental pain. OCGA § 16-10-31, also detailed at Justia, criminalizes acts intended to hinder discovery of a death.
Together, those statutes allow prosecutors to target both the conduct that led to a child's death and any separate steps taken afterward to hide or disguise what occurred, which is exactly how the district attorney's office says it approached Diallo's case.
Prosecutors' Account And Sentence
According to Atlanta News First, Diallo called police on December 14, 2022, to report Davis's death. Investigators later found the child mutilated inside a storage bin, and the autopsy showed lethal levels of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine in the toddler's body, facts the district attorney's office highlighted in court.
In court this week Diallo entered guilty pleas to the charges brought by prosecutors and received a 37-year sentence, with the first 21 years to be served in prison, according to the DA's office. The district attorney characterized the case as involving both lethal poisoning and an effort to hide the child's death from authorities.
Aftermath And Oversight
The DA's office said it will continue working with investigators as remaining records and court documents are filed, noting that privacy concerns for the family mean many details will be handled through sealed or limited-access filings. Cherokee County's district attorney has for years chaired a local Child Fatality Review Team that examines unexpected child deaths and recommends prevention measures, according to a Cherokee County DA press release.
For the public, court records and filings are expected to remain the clearest window into the specific evidence prosecutors relied on at Diallo's plea and sentencing hearings.
