Jury seated in trial of Warren County woman accused of killing her newborn
LEBANON, Ohio (WKRC) — A jury of seven women and five men will decide whether a former high school cheerleader is guilty of murdering her newborn baby and burying it in her backyard.
Brooke “Skylar” Richardson, 20, faces charges of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, child endangering, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the death of the infant in May 2017. Richardson maintains the baby girl was stillborn.
Sheriff's and coroner's investigators found the baby's remains buried in the yard in August 2017 after receiving a call from Richardon's doctor, who informed them she gave birth to a stillborn baby and buried it.
Prospective jurors were asked several questions, particularly about abortion and how late they believed a woman could terminate a pregnancy. Asst. Prosecutor Julie Kraft asked some of the jurors whether a woman had the right to terminate a pregnancy shortly after birth.
In an unusual move, Judge Donald Oda allowed the prosecution and the defense to give a preliminary opening statement before questioning prospective jurors. Kraft said Richardson found out she was pregnant in April 2017 during a visit to her OB/GYN.
“Upon learning that she was pregnant, Brooke burst into tears and told her doctor that she could not have this child and she could not tell anyone about being pregnant. And Brooke told no one,” Kraft said.
Kraft said Richardson gave birth in May 2017 at her home, killed the newborn and buried her in the backyard. However, Kraft said the cause of death could not be determined because the baby’s body decomposed over two months. She said jurors would have to look at all of the circumstances to determine whether the baby was born alive.
Richardson’s attorneys said she thought she had several weeks to go before giving birth because her doctor told her she was due to give birth in several weeks. When Richardson went into labor, the baby, whom she named Annabelle, was stillborn and she panicked, her attorneys said.
“She thinks she has 10 weeks to tell her mom and listen to her mother’s angst about being pregnant, tell her boyfriend, who didn’t know she was pregnant,” said defense attorney Charlie Rittgers. "She thinks she can go to prom and graduate from high school before her mother gives her angst about being pregnant. She delivers 11 days later.”
Prosecutors said Richardson became pregnant while involved with a boy in August 2016. Her boyfriend at the time the child was born was not the baby’s father.
Rittgers also told the prospective jurors that Richardson falsely confessed during her second police interrogation and that sheriff’s detectives and prosecutors got it wrong when they claimed Richardson burned her baby’s remains. A state forensic anthropologist initially thought the infant’s remains showed signs of burning. However, she changed that opinion after examining the remains a second time.
"They don’t have the guts to tell you they were wrong,” Rittgers said.
Opening statements are scheduled for 8:30 Wednesday morning.
