Sources: Infant’s death at ‘unlicensed’ day care at Hawaii military reservation ruled a homicide

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Law enforcement sources tell Hawaii News Now the death of an infant at an unlicensed daycare at the Aliamanu Military Reservation back in February is now being handled as a homicide investigation.

Seven-month-old Abigail Lobisch was found lifeless on February 24, just three days after military police attempted to shut down the unlicensed daycare on base.

Her mother left her there when her father was away on drill.

Abigail would have celebrated her first birthday on July 16.

Mrs. Lobisch was too shaken for a recorded interview Friday night, but her best friend spoke on her behalf.

"It's definitely been a moment that we've been waiting for for some time,” said Kalei Vierra. “And it's kind of shocking.”

Vierra, who is a close family friend, said since the family has hired an attorney, they are not revealing the child’s cause of death.

However, they can say the Honolulu Medical Examiner found that Abigail did not die from natural causes.

“We're comfortable with saying that it was not SIDS,” Vierra said. “Eventually it will all come out.”

As Hawaii News Now first reported in February, the daycare where Abigail died had been reported to the Army housing authority and the military police for allegedly leaving children unattended.

The unlicensed operation was served with two cease-and-desist orders, but it kept reopening.

The Medical Examiner has not released details to the media yet.

The Honolulu Police Department is the lead agency in this investigation.

Abigail’s family has posted a GoFundMe link to the Justice for Abi Facebook page to help pay for a lawyer.

“Obviously this is a different process now, we’re at a different stage in Abigail’s case and it will require some legal representation,” said Vierra. ‘The goal has always been to get justice for Abi, and we will fight for her until it happens."

Copyright 2019 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.