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The Murder of Alyssa Rose Davis
● Case Closed
Child Homicide
Cherokee County, Georgia
2022
01
Victim Profile
Alyssa Rose Davis
Alyssa Rose Davis
| Age at Death |
| 2 years old |
| Last Seen Alive |
| December 8, 2022 |
| Location |
| Canton, Georgia |
| Cause of Death |
| Lethal doses of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine |
Alyssa Rose Davis was two years old. She lived in Canton, Georgia, with her mother, who worked and relied on informal childcare arrangements within her community to get by. Alyssa's mother and Phillissa Diallo had met through a mutual friend and had helped each other with childcare on prior occasions. In late November or early December 2022, Alyssa's mother left her daughter in Diallo's care while she worked. She expected to remain in contact and expected her daughter to be safe.
During the weeks that followed, Alyssa's mother received sporadic FaceTime calls, Facebook messages, and excuses about a lost phone. She had no reason to believe her daughter was in danger. She did not learn that Alyssa was dead until law enforcement came to tell her. According to the Cherokee County District Attorney's office, the last confirmed proof of Alyssa's life was December 8, 2022. The exact date of her death could not be determined.
Alyssa Rose Davis was two years old. She had her whole life ahead of her. She was in the care of someone her mother trusted, and she was failed by that person in every way a child can be failed.
01
Overview
What We Know
In late November or early December 2022, Alyssa Rose Davis's mother left her two-year-old daughter in the care of Phillissa Diallo at Diallo's apartment on Hearthstone Landing Drive in Canton, Georgia. The arrangement was informal; the two women had met through a mutual friend and had previously helped each other with childcare. Alyssa's mother maintained what she believed to be regular contact with Diallo during the period her daughter was in her care.
Investigators determined that Diallo was the only person with Alyssa in the days surrounding her death. The last confirmed proof of Alyssa's life was December 8, 2022. During her time in Diallo's care, Alyssa was administered lethal amounts of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine, the active ingredients in Tylenol and Benadryl. An autopsy conducted by the Cherokee County medical examiner confirmed those substances at lethal levels as the cause of death. The medical examiner also noted that Alyssa's stomach was found empty, and investigators believe her stomach had been cut open in what appeared to be an attempt to remove its contents.
After Alyssa died, Diallo did not contact authorities. Instead, she mutilated the child's body, placed her remains inside a plastic storage bin containing a salt-like substance, and concealed the container beneath other items in a closet. She continued to communicate with Alyssa's mother via FaceTime and Facebook, fabricating explanations for why Alyssa could not be seen or reached. Ring camera footage recovered from the apartment showed Diallo leaving the child alone for extended periods during her stay. Separate Ring footage showed Diallo bringing bleach into the apartment. Blue Star forensic imaging of crime scene photographs identified areas where blood had been cleaned from surfaces.
On December 14, 2022, Phillissa Diallo walked into the Canton Police Department and reported that a child was dead in her apartment. Officers responded to Hearthstone Landing Drive and discovered Alyssa's mutilated remains inside the storage bin in the closet. Alyssa's mother learned of her daughter's death from law enforcement.
02
Chronology
Case Timeline
Late November / Early December 2022
Alyssa Left in Diallo's Care
Alyssa Rose Davis's mother leaves her two-year-old daughter in the care of Phillissa Diallo at Diallo's apartment on Hearthstone Landing Drive in Canton. The arrangement is informal; the two women had met through a mutual friend. Alyssa's mother remains in what she believes is regular contact with Diallo throughout the period.
December 8, 2022
Last Confirmed Proof of Life
December 8, 2022 is the last date investigators were able to confirm Alyssa was alive. The exact date of her death was not determined. Diallo continued to communicate with Alyssa's mother after this date, providing false information about the child's wellbeing.
Early–Mid December 2022
Body Concealed; Mother Deceived
Following Alyssa's death, Diallo mutilates the child's body, places her remains in a plastic storage bin containing a salt-like substance, and conceals the container in a closet. She continues sending Facebook messages and conducting FaceTime calls with Alyssa's mother, fabricating explanations. Ring camera footage later shows Diallo bringing bleach into the apartment during this period.
December 14, 2022
Diallo Walks Into Canton Police Department
Phillissa Diallo enters the Canton Police Department and reports that a child is dead inside her apartment. Officers respond to Hearthstone Landing Drive and discover Alyssa's mutilated remains hidden inside a plastic storage bin beneath other items in a closet. The bin contains a salt-like substance. Alyssa's mother is notified of her daughter's death by law enforcement.
December 14, 2022 — Ongoing
Investigation Launched
Canton Police and Cherokee County investigators process the scene. An autopsy determines Alyssa died from lethal levels of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine. Ring camera footage, Blue Star forensic imaging, and physical evidence from the apartment are collected. Phillissa Diallo is charged with murder, cruelty to children, and concealing the death of another.
May 11, 2026
Guilty Plea Entered
Phillissa Diallo enters a non-negotiated guilty plea in Cherokee Superior Court to three counts: second-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to children, and concealing the death of another. The plea is non-negotiated, meaning no agreement was reached with prosecutors in exchange for it. At the hearing, Diallo admits Alyssa was still alive when she found her.
May 11, 2026
Sentenced — 37 Years
Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. sentences Phillissa Diallo to 37 years, with the first 21 years to be served in prison and the remainder on probation. The judge orders no contact of any kind between Diallo and the family of Alyssa Rose Davis. The sentence is announced publicly by the Cherokee County District Attorney's Office on May 18, 2026.
03
Law Enforcement
The Investigation
The investigation into Alyssa Rose Davis's death began on December 14, 2022, not with a tip or a welfare check, but with Phillissa Diallo walking into the Canton Police Department and reporting that a child was dead in her apartment. Officers responded to Hearthstone Landing Drive and found Alyssa's mutilated remains inside a plastic storage bin packed with a salt-like substance and concealed in a closet beneath other belongings.
An autopsy conducted by the Cherokee County medical examiner determined the cause of death as lethal levels of acetaminophen and diphenhydramine, the active ingredients in over-the-counter Tylenol and Benadryl. The medical examiner noted that Alyssa's stomach was found empty. Investigators believe her stomach had been cut open in an apparent attempt to remove its contents after her death.
Investigators recovered Ring camera footage from Diallo's apartment that showed her leaving Alyssa alone for extended periods during the time the child was in her care. A separate segment of Ring footage showed Diallo bringing bleach into the apartment. Blue Star forensic imaging applied to crime scene photographs revealed areas of the apartment where blood had been cleaned from surfaces. The plastic storage bin, its contents, and the crime scene photographs were among the physical evidence collected and presented in the prosecution of the case.
Investigators confirmed that Diallo was the only person with Alyssa in the days surrounding her death. Prosecutors noted that while the evidence established Diallo's sole presence and responsibility, it was insufficient under Georgia law to support a charge of malice murder; charges were brought at the second-degree level. The defense argued during proceedings that Diallo suffered from delusional thinking; a behavioral health expert with the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health testified that Diallo was not experiencing mental health problems at the time of the offense.
At the May 11, 2026 plea hearing, Diallo admitted that Alyssa was still alive when she found her. Deputy Chief ADA Rachel Hines noted that calling 911 at that moment may have saved the child's life.
Case Document
Official press release issued by the Office of the District Attorney, Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit, Cherokee County, Georgia. Documents the guilty plea and sentencing of Phillissa Diallo in the 2022 death of Alyssa Rose Davis. May 18, 2026.
Download Press Release (PDF) ↓
04
Convicted
The Accused
Phillissa Diallo
Babysitter
Age at Sentencing: 44
Hometown: Canton, Georgia
Relationship to Victim: Babysitter; known to victim's mother through mutual friend
Charges: Second-Degree Murder, Second-Degree Cruelty to Children, Concealing the Death of Another
Plea: Guilty — All 3 Counts (non-negotiated, May 11, 2026)
Sentence: 37 Years — First 21 to Serve in Prison
Sentencing Judge: Hon. David L. Cannon Jr., Chief Superior Court Judge, Cherokee County
Prosecutor: Deputy Chief ADA Rachel Hines, Special Victims Unit, Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit
Case Disposition
Phillissa Diallo entered a non-negotiated guilty plea on May 11, 2026, to second-degree murder, second-degree cruelty to children, and concealing the death of another. No agreement was reached with prosecutors in exchange for the plea. Chief Superior Court Judge David L. Cannon Jr. sentenced Diallo to 37 years, with the first 21 years to be served in prison and the remainder on probation under supervision. The judge issued a no-contact order prohibiting Diallo from having any contact of any kind with the family of Alyssa Rose Davis. Prosecutors noted that while the evidence was sufficient to establish Diallo's sole responsibility for Alyssa's death, it did not meet the threshold required for a malice murder charge under Georgia law.
Forensic Breakdown
Case Analysis
Method of Poisoning
Acetaminophen and diphenhydramine are both available over the counter and are common household medications. In therapeutic doses they are considered safe for appropriate age groups; in lethal doses administered to a toddler they cause organ failure and central nervous system suppression. The choice of these substances as the method of killing a two-year-old is consistent with an offender who had access to the victim over an extended period, had sole control of the environment, and selected a method that would be difficult to detect without autopsy. The substances leave no visible external injury and produce a death that can present as illness. Their selection required no specialized knowledge; they were readily available in any pharmacy.
Post-Death Body Alteration
The mutilation of Alyssa's body after death, the removal or attempted removal of stomach contents, and the use of a salt-like substance in the storage container all point to deliberate efforts to interfere with forensic examination. Salt and similar substances have historically been used in attempts to accelerate decomposition or mask biological evidence. The evisceration of the stomach is consistent with an attempt to remove or destroy the contents that would have reflected the presence of the medications administered. These are not impulsive behaviors; they reflect sustained, purposeful action taken over time after the child's death.
Deception and Concealment
For approximately six days between Alyssa's last confirmed proof of life on December 8 and Diallo's self-report to police on December 14, Diallo maintained active deception of Alyssa's mother through FaceTime calls, Facebook messages, and fabricated explanations. This behavior reflects a calculated effort to delay discovery rather than panic or confusion. The simultaneous concealment of the body, use of bleach on surfaces, and continuation of normal-appearing communication with the victim's mother indicates an offender who was managing multiple deception strategies in parallel over an extended period.
Victimology and Vulnerability
Alyssa Rose Davis was two years old and entirely dependent on the adults in her life for her safety. Her mother was working and had made an informal childcare arrangement within her community network out of necessity. The vulnerability of the victim was total; she could not report abuse, could not leave, and could not seek help. The offender had complete and unsupervised control over the child for a period of weeks. Research on child homicide consistently identifies caregiver access, isolation of the child, and absence of external oversight as the primary risk factors in fatal child abuse cases. All of those factors were present here.
The Self-Report and Its Significance
Diallo's decision to walk into the Canton Police Department on December 14 and report the child's death herself is an unusual feature of this case. Self-reporting in child homicide cases can reflect an offender who has reached a psychological threshold they are unable to sustain, who fears imminent discovery, or who is seeking some degree of control over how the discovery unfolds. At the plea hearing, Diallo admitted Alyssa was alive when she found her, a statement that reframes the self-report not as a confession of killing but as an acknowledgment of the moment she chose inaction over intervention. Deputy Chief ADA Hines noted that calling 911 at that point may have saved Alyssa's life.
Digital and Physical Evidence Architecture
The prosecution's evidence included Ring camera footage documenting Diallo's behavior inside the apartment, Blue Star forensic imaging revealing cleaned bloodstains, and the physical evidence of the storage bin and its contents. Ring cameras have become a significant source of evidence in residential homicide and child abuse cases precisely because they capture behavior inside the home that would otherwise be invisible to investigators. The combination of digital footage, forensic imaging, and autopsy findings constructed a case that did not depend on a single category of evidence, a factor that likely contributed to Diallo's decision to enter a non-negotiated guilty plea rather than contest the charges at trial.
In Memoriam
They Are Not Forgotten
Alyssa Rose Davis was two years old. She had a whole life she never got to live, a childhood she never got to finish, a person she never got to become. She was someone's daughter, someone's whole world, left in the care of a woman her mother trusted because that is what parents do when they have to work and they have to survive and they believe the people around them mean well.
Her mother learned her daughter was dead from law enforcement. Not from a phone call that felt wrong, not from a door that wouldn't open, not from any of the small signs that something had gone terribly wrong behind a closed door while she worked. From law enforcement. That is the kind of loss that has no shape to it, no way to hold it, no language that reaches all the way to the bottom of it.
Alyssa deserved to be safe. She deserved to be protected. She deserved someone who, when the moment came to pick up a phone and call for help, made that call. She was two years old and she was completely dependent on the adults around her to keep her in the world, and one of those adults chose otherwise.
She was here. She was real. She had a name and a face and a mother who loved her. Alyssa Rose Davis will not be forgotten.
Sources
Office of the District Attorney, Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit — Press Release: "Canton Woman Pleads Guilty to Murder of Two-Year-Old Child" (May 18, 2026) | WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta — "Woman pleads guilty after 2-year-old's body found in box hidden in her closet" (May 18, 2026) | Fox 5 Atlanta — "Canton woman sentenced for 2022 murder of 2-year-old" (May 19, 2026) | Atlanta News First — "Woman pleads guilty to killing, mutilating 2-year-old, Cherokee County DA says" (May 18, 2026) | The Georgia Sun — "Georgia woman gets 21 years in prison for 2-year-old's death" (May 2026) | Oxygen.com — "Phillissa Diallo Sentenced for Killing Alyssa Rose Davis" (May 2026) | Madame Noire — "Babysitter Sentenced To 37 Years For Alyssa Rose Davis Death" (May 2026)
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