July 24 (UPI) — An 18-year-old Ohio woman is accused of burying her newborn baby alive, police said.
Brooke Skylar Richardson was arrested on July 20 on a charge of reckless homicide after the remains of an infant were found buried in her backyard days earlier. She pleaded not guilty through her attorney.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said in a statement on Facebook 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.”
He added: “Law enforcement is continuing to treat this as an active and ongoing investigation.”
Richardson faces one to five years in prison if convicted.
Her attorney, Charles M. Rittgers, described Richardson as an upstanding young woman who had just graduated from high school and is planning to go to college at the University of Cincinnati this fall.
“She didn’t drink. She wasn’t a partier or smoker. By all measures a very good girl who helped actual children, children with disabilities,” Rittgers said, adding: “She’s taking it the way you would expect. It’s a shock to her and a tragic situation.”
Rittgers also said the former cheerleader volunteered at a pee-wee cheer camp.
Police went to the Richardson home on July 14 to search the backyard after getting a tip from a doctor’s office and found the infant’s corpse, reported the Dayton Daily News.
A medical examiner confirmed that the baby was not stillborn, leading to Richardson’s arrest.
She was given a $15,000 bond and her next court date is set for Aug. 1.
A medical examiner confirmed that the baby was not stillborn, leading to Richardson’s arrest.
She was given a $15,000 bond and her next court date is set for Aug. 1.
