Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder of Girl, 2, After Police Find Grisly Box Hidden in Back of Closet

A Georgia babysitter is heading to jail in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl in 2022.

Phillissa Diallo of Cherokee County pleaded guilty to charges including murder and child cruelty in the death of Alyssa Rose Davis.

Diallo was sentenced to 37 years with 21 years in prison, according to WSB-TV.

Diallo is 44, according to People.

Phillissa Diallo was sentenced to prison last Monday after she pleaded guilty to the 2022 killing of a 2-year-old child. https://t.co/nWtBkAfN9J

— FOX 5 Atlanta (@FOX5Atlanta) May 19, 2026

Davis’s body was found in a plastic storage bin in the back of a closet in Diallo’s apartment. Diallo had reported to police that there was a dead child there, WSB reported.

A salt-like substance was found in the box.

The girl died from lethal amounts of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine, the combination of drugs in Benadryl.

According to the Cherokee County District Attorney, Diallo had been caring for the child for two weeks. The child was last seen six days before her death.

The DA’s office said Diallo often left the 2-year-old alone for “extended periods of time.”

The child’s mother was reported to have had regular contact with Diallo, but did not know the girl was dead until police informed her.

“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 said.

“Alyssa was not treated with the protection and dignity owed to every child, and that reality will haunt everyone involved in this case,” she said.

A Georgia woman who murdered a toddler then mutilated the remains will spend the next few decades in prison. #OxygenTrueCrimeNews

Visit the link for more: https://t.co/5ZCIk9Gboh pic.twitter.com/VhUycuOcpa

— Oxygen True Crime (@oxygen) May 20, 2026

Prosecutors used the storage bin in which the girl was found as evidence, as well as images of Diallo toting bleach into her building and photos showing where blood had been cleaned.

The DA’s office had sought a sentence of 40 years in prison.

“While the investigation confirmed Diallo was the only person present with the child in the days before and after her death, the evidence was insufficient to establish a charge of malice murder under Georgia law,” the DA’s release said. In Georgia, malice murder can carry a potential death sentence.

The defense had sought to claim Diallo suffered from delusions, but a state expert said she was not delusional at the time of the child’s death.

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