CANTON, GA — A woman has pled guilty to murder after a 2-year-old girl in her care who died from "lethal amounts" of over-the-counter drugs was found mutilated in a storage bin, Cherokee County prosecutors said Monday.
Cherokee County Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. on May 11 sentenced Phillissa Diallo, a 44-year-old Canton woman, to 37 years in connection with the death of Alyssa Rose Davis more than three years ago, according to the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office.
Canton Police on Dec. 14, 2022 responded to Diallo's apartment at Hearthstone Landing Drive after she walked into the local police department and reported Davis' death, prosecutors said.
When officers searched the apartment, prosecutors said they found Davis' "mutilated remains inside a plastic storage bin containing a salt substance, hidden beneath other items in a closet."
An autopsy determined Davis died from "lethal amounts of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine."
Investigators could not determine when Davis died; however, prosecutors said her body was located six days after she was last seen alive on Dec. 8.
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Diallo provided little information to officers in connection with Davis' death, prosecutors said.
She spent at least two weeks caring for Davis, who was caught on Ring camera footage being left alone in the apartment by Diallo for an extensive amount of time, prosecutors said.
Davis' mother regularly stayed in contact with Diallo but was not aware that her daughter had died until police told her, prosecutors said.
Investigators determined Diallo was the only person who was with Davis in the days before and after her death, prosecutors said.
Evidence against Diallo included the plastic storage bin where the remains were found, Ring video footage of Diallo bringing bleach into the home and crime scene photographs with Blue Star images showing areas where blood had been cleaned, prosecutors said.
"The evidence was insufficient to establish a charge of malice murder under Georgia law," prosecutors said in a news release.
The afternoon of Dec. 16, 2022, police revealed they were charging Diallo with second-degree murder. They additionally charged her with concealing the death of another person and second-degree cruelty to children, police said at the time.
Ultimately, Diallo entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to all charges, prosecutors said.
At the plea hearing, Cherokee Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Rachel Hines of the Special Victims Unit said Diallo acknowledged Davis being alive when she found her, prosecutors said.
"Calling 911 or seeking help may have saved the child’s life. (The prosecutor) also argued that Diallo’s reported history of anxiety and depression did not explain or justify her cruel and deliberate actions. The victim’s mother delivered an emotional impact statement, telling the court she was 'robbed' when Alyssa was taken from her, that her other children miss their sister deeply, and that their family will never be the same," read a news release.
An independent expert on behalf of the defense testified Diallo was delusional, but an expert with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health testified Diallo was not delusional at the time of Davis' death, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors recommended she be sentenced to the state maximum of 40 years to serve in prison while defense attorneys requested leniency.
Cannon sentenced Diallo to 37 years with the first 21 years to serve in prison. She also cannot have contact with Davis' family.
“Instead of taking steps to preserve the child’s health and well-being, the defendant demonstrated willful neglect," Hines said in a news release. "She then took gruesome, unimaginable steps to conceal her death. Alyssa was not treated with the protection and dignity owed to every child, and that reality will haunt everyone involved in this case.”
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