18-Year-Old Former Cheerleader Charged With Killing Her Own Baby
An 18-year-old former cheerleader has been accused of killing her own baby and burying the remains in her own backyard.
Brooke Skylar Richardson is now being charged with reckless homicide after an infant was found buried in the backyard of the teenager's home in Carlisle, Ohio. The remains of the infant were discovered last week and the baby is believed to have died some two months ago.
Court records show that the infant was born alive and not stillborn. The remains were found after a tip from a doctor's office, Dayton Daily News reported.
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Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell stated that the charge "is based upon evidence that the infant whose remains were discovered at the defendant's residence in Carlisle one week ago today was born alive and was not a stillborn baby. Law enforcement is continuing to treat this as an active and ongoing investigation."
On Friday, July 21, Richardson and her parents appeared before Judge Rupert Ruppert in the Franklin Municipal Court and the arraignment ended just as quick as it began. Richardson's case will have an Aug. 1 preliminary hearing and she will still be on a $15,000 bond.
Richardson pled not guilty to the charges against her.
Charles M. Rittgers, Richardson's attorney, spoke to the media and praised his client for being a good student who was also planning to attend college at the University of Cincinnati after graduating from high school months before.
According to him, the former cheerleader was known to have helped children with disabilities at a cheer camp and even volunteered for the YMCA for children.
"She didn't drink. She wasn't a partier or a smoker. By all measures a very good girl who helped children... She's by all means a very good person," Rittgers said.
If convicted, Richardson could face up to five years in jail.
