At some point, Phillissa Diallo must have seemed like a good person. She had to have appeared trustworthy, kind, and capable of loving a child in their parent’s absence. Otherwise, no mother would have left an innocent toddler with her for weeks, never to see their baby alive again. In December 2022, Diallo walked into a Georgia police station to report a deceased child in her apartment. That was just a glimpse of the horror police found when they got there. Now, Diallo will spend decades in prison for her crimes.
Diallo gave no indication that anything was wrong.
According to a release from the Cherokee County District Attorney’s Office, Diallo was caring for 2-year-old Alyssa Rose Davis in early December 2022. It’s unclear how long she was supposed to watch Alyssa, but she apparently kept in regular contact with the mother during her absence. Ring camera footage from her apartment apparently showed Diallo leaving the child alone for long periods during her extended stay at the residence. The last proof of life was on December 8, but Diallo waited to contact authorities.
She turned herself in to police.
Diallo walked into the Canton Police Department on December 14, 2022, and reported a deceased child in her apartment, Fox 5 reported. When police arrived at the residence, they found Alyssa’s body inside a closet. The child had been mutilated and placed in a container with a “salt substance,” according to the district attorney.
Diallo put Alyssa’s remains in the closet and evidently tried to hide them by piling clothes on top, according to the district attorney’s news release. Shockingly, Alyssa’s mother had no idea her daughter had died until law enforcement contacted her.
An autopsy revealed the toddler’s cause of death.
She reportedly had deadly levels of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine in her system at the time of her death. Diallo told investigators the child was alive when she found her unresponsive but that anxiety and depression stopped her from getting help for Alyssa, according to the news release.
“Instead of taking steps to preserve the child’s health and well-being, the defendant demonstrated willful neglect. She then took gruesome, unimaginable steps to conceal her death,” Deputy Chief ADA Rachel Hines shared in the news release. “Alyssa was not treated with the protection and dignity owed to every child, and that reality will haunt everyone involved in this case.”
Diallo pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges.
Initially, the defense attempted to claim delusional thinking, but Diallo ultimately entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder and concealing Alyssa’s death. The state wanted a 40-year sentence, the maximum allowed in Georgia, but the defense asked for leniency, per Fox 5. A judge ultimately sentenced 44-year-old Diallo to 37 years, with the first 21 to be served behind bars.
How does mutilating a child’s body, putting it in preservative chemicals, and then hiding it in a closet not end with a sentence of life in prison? Alyssa had no second chance, and neither should her killer.
