WARREN COUNTY, Ohio — A former high school cheerleader could spend the rest of her life in prison if convicted in the death of her newborn baby.
Brooke Skylar Richardson, then 18 years old, made national headlines in 2017 for allegedly murdering her child and burying the infant in the family's backyard. She insisted the baby was stillborn; Ohio prosecutors believed otherwise, concurring with investigators the baby had been born alive and was buried for 10-12 weeks before being discovered.
Richardson is charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering a child, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse, The Washington Post reports.
Her trial began Tuesday, and she has pleaded not guilty.
Richardson, now 20, gave birth to the baby girl in the middle of the night and told no one, prosecutors said, according to WXIX-TV. Only Richardson and her gynecologist knew of the pregnancy. After about two months, Richardson returned to her doctor's office for a refill on her birth control pills and was confronted by a new doctor about Richardson no longer being pregnant.
"Brooke broke down and told her she’d had the baby in the middle of the night and buried her in the backyard," prosecutors said during opening statements.
With that information, police were notified.
The Post reports throughout the earlier stages of the investigation, detectives did not challenge Richardson's explanation of the baby being stillborn until a doctor hired by the prosecution explained the infant's bones appeared "charred."
However, the doctor reportedly later recanted her testimony and said she made a mistake in characterizing the state of the baby's bones. But Richardson's attorney, Charles M. Rittgers, told the jury detectives "broke her down" by saying it would be better if she were trying to cremate the body.
Rittgers said after denying she burned the baby 17 times and after describing the baby being born dead 29 times, Richardson eventually said she tried to cremate her.
When asked of a motive, the prosecutor believed the family had concerns about appearances -- Richardson was a cheerleader, a high school graduate, a "good girl" as called by her attorney, according to the Post, citing the prosecutor.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
What other people are reading right now:
- Hurricane Dorian finally begins to move away from Grand Bahama
- Live blog: The latest, need-to-know information on Hurricane Dorian
- Before-and-after photos show how badly Hurricane Dorian flooded the Bahamas
- Police: 26 kilos of cocaine wash up on Florida beach during Hurricane Dorian
- Hurricane chaser shares remarkable story of riding out Dorian in Bahamas
►Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the 10News app now.
Have a news tip? Email desk@wtsp.com, or visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.
