The U.S. Army has agreed to pay $900,000 to settle a wrongful death lawsuit over the 2019 death of 7-month-old Abigail Lobisch, who died after receiving a lethal dose of diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, while in the care of a babysitter operating an unauthorized daycare out of her home on Aliamanu Military Reservation.
Abigail was found dead at Dixie Denise Villa's home on February 24, 2019, according to an autopsy report cited by Hawaii News Now. A Honolulu Police Department affidavit reported by Military Times found the infant's blood diphenhydramine concentration measured 2,400 nanograms per milliliter — nearly double the roughly 1,400 ng/mL average concentration reported in infant fatal overdoses. Federal drug safety labels and guidelines caution against giving diphenhydramine to children under 6 without a physician's approval and warn against using antihistamines to induce sleep in infants.
Villa was the babysitter caring for Abigail at the time of her death. A jury convicted her of manslaughter in November 2024, and Honolulu Circuit Court Judge Fa'auuga To'oto'o sentenced her in May 2025 to 20 years in prison — the maximum statutory penalty for manslaughter in Hawaii — according to Court TV. Villa is appealing her conviction. The same outlet reported that the case took six years and at least 13 postponements to reach trial; Villa later filed an unsuccessful request for a new trial over evidence and credibility.
Warnings Went Unheeded for Years
Abigail's parents, Anna Lobisch and Army National Guard member James Lobisch, sued the military and Island Palm Communities, the contractor that owned and managed the base housing. Court documents say the military and the housing company failed to prevent Villa from operating an unauthorized daycare in her on-base home. Unauthorized childcare at Villa's home was reported as early as 2017, and the Army sent multiple cease-and-desist letters in response, per Hawaii News Now's reporting.
The same outlet notes that base officials issued cease-and-desist warnings in 2017 and 2018, citing Military Times' 2020 reporting that first detailed the family's negligence suit. Under U.S. Army Hawaii Regulation 1, offering more than 10 hours of uncertified childcare per week is illegal on post, according to U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii records from 2020.
Attorney Kevin O'Grady said the military and the contractor failed to coordinate their efforts despite the issue being known, and that there was enough time to take action before the child's death. Attorney Alexander Silvert said the military should be more proactive about matters involving child safety, adding that the red flags required a more urgent response.
A Family Still Grieving, a Second Settlement Pending
Anna Lobisch said her grief over losing baby Abi has consumed her, and that her life has been defined by grief and loss and living without her daughter. The federal settlement covers only the government's share of liability; a separate, confidential settlement with Island Palm Communities remains under negotiation.
Island Palm Communities is a privatized housing partnership run by global developer Lendlease, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. Military housing nationwide was privatized beginning in 1996, the outlet reported. The Lobisches originally filed their federal wrongful death lawsuit in August 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii on behalf of themselves and Abigail's surviving brother, Military Times reported at the time.
Abigail's death, along with two other infant deaths in military housing within a 13-month span, prompted Acting Under Secretary of Defense James Stewart to issue a nationwide directive in September 2019 ordering installation leaders to aggressively investigate and shut down uncertified child care operations, Military Times reported, underscoring the scale of the Pentagon's response to failures first exposed on Oahu.
