Cheerleader accused of killing newborn, burying her in backyard after prom begins murder trial
Keith BieryGolick
Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON, Ohio – The day before her baby died, she went to a Cincinnati Reds game with her boyfriend and parents. They
didn’t know she was pregnant.
Brooke “Skylar” Richardson, then 18, was having painful cramps. She didn’t know that might have been the beginning of labor.
The next day, several hours after she buried her child in the backyard, Richardson went to the gym and began documenting her weight loss in pictures. She sent a text to her mom:
“I’m literally speechless with how happy I am,” Richardson said. “My belly is back omg I am never ever ever evertrrr letting it grt like this again your about to see me look freaking better than before omg.”
Richardson, now 20, is charged with aggravated murder and involuntary manslaughter. The former Carlisle High School cheerleader is accused of deliberately killing her newborn baby in 2017 a few days after prom and burying it in her parent’s backyard. Shortly after that, Richardson graduated high school.
She was arrested a few months later.
Her trial began this week, and jurors must decide if Richardson had a stillborn baby or it was something more sinister. If convicted, she could spend the rest of her life in prison.
Less than 24 hours after prosecutors say she killed her baby, Richardson texted her mom again:
“I’m literally so excited for dinner to wear something cute yayy my belly is back now I am takin this opportunity to make it amazing.”
She also texted her boyfriend:
“Last night was like the worst ever. But I feel so much better this morning. I’m happy.”
Warren County Assistant Prosecutor Steve Knippen called it the perfect crime.
Richardson gave birth in the middle of the night and didn’t tell anyone – not even her brother sleeping across the hall. Knippen said Richardson never intended to raise her child.
Her family says Richardson named her baby Annabelle and thinks about her often.
After finding out she was pregnant, Richardson searched “how do I get rid of a baby” on the internet. Her mother had told Richardson her life would be over if she became pregnant, the prosecutor said.
“She was determined to keep her secret,” Knippen said in court on Wednesday. “When she could conceal her daughter no longer, she took her daughter’s life.”
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For two months, Richardson went back to living her picture-perfect life, the prosecutor said. All while her baby decomposed in the backyard.
Annabelle deserved better.
That’s what police told Richardson as she sat in a police interrogation room, her hand held by a detective. Her family had already called police and asked if the child’s remains could be returned to them.
They wanted a proper burial. But before they could do that, police told Richardson, they needed the truth.
At her Carlisle home in 2017, investigators searched for her child’s bones, removing weeds and brushing the ground to reveal more skeletal remains. Authorities placed dozens of bones, including several pieces of the skull, on top of a small body bag.
An angel statue bearing the words “forever in our hearts” marks the spot where investigators dug up the child’s remains.
One investigator testified the remains smelled. Another said the bones were so small it was hard to tell if they were collecting rock or bone. The coroner said authorities found some hair and very small fingernails, but no organs or anything else identifiable.
Pictures of the bones were displayed on a television screen in court on Wednesday afternoon. The photos were part of testimony which began Wednesday morning with the father of Richardson's baby, who said she broke up with him after a month of dating and never told him she was pregnant.
Richardson, 20, looked straight ahead and didn't appear to look at the photos. The day before, she trembled when the judge sat down before jury selection.
Richardson’s life was far from perfect, her attorneys said, even before all of this. They said much of what prosecutors said are “half-truths.”
Defense Attorney Charlie Rittgers said the texts displayed in court were taken out of context. He said Richardson often texted like that.
She’s battled an eating disorder since she was 12, regularly seeing a psychologist and nutritionist because of it. Rittgers showed pictures to the jury of Richardson where she looked rail-thin and pictures where she looked chubby. He said her weight fluctuated up to 40 pounds at a time.
After Richardson lost her baby, her attorney said she cradled the child for hours while bleeding on the ground in the bathroom. She buried Annabelle in the backyard and dragged a 25-pound flower pot to mark the grave.
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Richardson could see the pot from her bedroom window.
Her attorney said she began focusing on her fitness and how her body looked because it was the only thing she could control.
“She put a smile on for the outside world and acted like she was happy,” Rittgers told the jury.
The attorney said Richardson planned on telling her family she was pregnant, but she never had a chance. Rittgers said her doctor told her she would deliver a baby within eight to 10 weeks.
She thought she had time to go to prom and graduate high school before she figured out how to tell her mom, who she knew would not take the news well.
She gave birth 11 days later.
Richardson’s trial is expected to last two weeks. Testimony will continue Thursday.
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Contributing: Sonia Chopra
Follow Keith BieryGolick on Twitter: @KBieryGolick
