Honolulu police said Tuesday they now believe someone is responsible for the death of a 7-month-old girl Feb. 24 at a home day care at Aliamanu Military Reservation.
Police reclassified the death of Abigail Lobisch from an unattended death, meaning the cause of death is not determined, to manslaughter, meaning someone caused the death.
The case is still being investigated, and no arrests have been made, said HPD spokeswoman Sarah Yoro. Lobisch, who would have been 1 year old Tuesday, was being cared for along with her 2-1/2-year-old brother at an unpermitted day care, said family friend Kalei Vierra.
Vierra posted a video to a “Justice for Abi” Facebook page Monday in which she said the military husband of the babysitter had twice before been issued “cease and desist” citations for running the day care — the most recent of which came “just days before” Abigail’s death, “and this sitter continued to provide day care to families and watch children.”
The Army oversees Aliamanu Military Reservation housing for multiple services.
If the day care provider had been licensed, she would have been trained and certified and known specifically that with infants under the age of 1, it’s “common sense to not put a baby facedown in bed,” Vierra said. “If you are running a day care, you should know that.”
Vierra said a neighbor had filed complaints against the sitter over the course of a year saying she neglected children in her care.
The neighbor “contacted the right authorities to handle the situation, and basically, nothing was done,” she said. Military police previously had checked on the household, “and the sitter in question had claimed that the children were hers,” Vierra said.
The friend said she was not sharing the babysitter’s name or autopsy results on the Facebook page in part for legal reasons.
“We are not able to share with you the exact details,” she said. “I think that’s something that needs to come from either the authorities or attorneys that are involved.”
Vierra noted on a GoFundMe page created July 6 that the child’s mother, Anna Lobisch, “is seeking legal representation to deal with what’s ahead.”
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said the autopsy results are not being released because an investigation is still underway.
Vierra predicted family representatives will be talking “very often” about Talia’s Law, a federal law passed in late 2016 requiring suspected child abuse on bases to be reported to state child welfare officials and military Family Advocacy officials. The law was named in memory of 5-year-old Talia Williams, who died at the hands of an abusive father at Schofield Barracks.
Vierra and Lobisch had a meeting with military Family Advocacy, “and we came out and asked them if they were notified prior to Abigail’s death about the complaints that were happening,” Vierra said. The family was told Family Advocacy had not been notified until after the death, she said.
Generally speaking, the state doesn’t have jurisdiction over child care licensing on federal military bases, said Keopu Reelitz, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services.
The girl’s mother said in an April 26 MilitaryTimes.com story, “I didn’t even know about unlicensed care before this happened. Licensing never came to my mind.”
The caregiver, a Navy wife, had texted and said, “Please come now.” When Lobisch pulled up, she saw military police, Honolulu police and an ambulance.
“I was freaking out,” she told the publication. “They said, ‘I’m so sorry. The babysitter found your daughter not breathing. We tried to administer CPR but she was too far gone.’ There was nothing they could have done for her.”
Neither Lobisch nor Vierra could be reached Tuesday.
The child’s father is in the Army National Guard, according to Military Times. Navy Region Hawaii referred questions about day care licensing in the case to the Army. The Army said late Tuesday it was preparing a response.
U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii said Honolulu police have the lead in the investigation. Following the child’s death, the garrison started a command investigation into policies, procedures and practices for how home-based day cares are run on its installations.
An official said the report is done but hasn’t been released. Multiple GoFundMe accounts have raised over $10,000 for the family. Supporters also created a “JusticeforAbi” Facebook page at www.facebook.com/JusticeForBabyAbi.