High school cheerleader breaks down as she’s cleared of murdering newborn baby
A former high school cheerleader broke down in court as she was acquitted of murdering her unwanted newborn in order to keep her ‘perfect life’.
Brooke Skylar Richardson, 20, was accused of hiding her pregnancy and burying her baby in her family’s backyard in May 2017, just after her senior prom when she was 18.
The young Ohio mother began shaking and sobbing as a judge read not guilty verdicts on aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges on Thursday.
However, Richardson – who faced up to life in prison if she had been convicted on the most serious charge – was found guilty of corpse abuse by the Warren County jury that deliberated for four hours.
She and her mother exchanged tearful ‘I love yous’ after Warren County Judge Donald Oda II revoked her bond and she was walked out of the courtroom in handcuffs.
A forensic pathologist who testified for the prosecution concluded the child died from ‘homicidal violence.’
Prosecutors claimed the mother had searched on the internet for ‘how to get rid of a baby’ and played footage of a police interview in which Richardson said the baby might have moved and made noises.
However, during the court case, her defence had argued that the newborn she named ‘Annabelle’ was stillborn and that the student, who refused to comment after the court case, was sad and scared.
Cincinnati psychologist Stuart Bassman added that she was being ‘manipulated’ into making false statements during interrogations.
Bassman described the former high school student – who had planned to attend the University of Cincinnati – as a vulnerable, immature person.
He said that her dependent personality disorder made her want to please authority figures, even to the point of making incriminating statements that were untrue.
Assistant prosecutor Julie Kraft suggested that Richardson’s desire to please her family and boyfriend, as well as her fear of them abandoning her, could have motivated her to commit extreme acts.
The case had divided locals in her hometown of Carlisle, with numerous Facebook pages devoted towards discussing it.
Her attorneys had twice asked to move the trial, citing intense publicity ‘fuelled by the prosecution’, but the judge denied both requests.
Richardson will be sentenced on Friday.
The charge of corpse abuse carries a potential sentence of up to one year in prison, but as a first-time offender, she could get probation.