Brooke Skylar Richardson, 20, a former cheerleader from Ohio, has recently been acquitted of the killing of an unwanted newborn, according to reports. The woman claimed the baby was stillborn.
The case captivated many after she was sentenced to no jail time. The cheerleader was found not guilty of aggravated murder, involuntary murder and child endangerment — however, she was still sentenced for the act of burying the baby in her backyard, which the court deemed corpse abuse.
She has received a three-year probation sentence. It has been confirmed that Richardson gave birth in secret to a baby girl she named Annabelle on May 7, 2017, which she buried in the backyard of her home in Carlisle.
Richardson’s family had requested the remains of the baby. It is not known if Richardson’s parents — Kim and Scott Richardson — are the ones who requested the release of the body from the Warren County Coroner Dr. Russell Uptegrove.
The remains were released on Thursday. The family of the baby’s father, Trey Johnson, had also requested them.
Defense attorney Charles M. Rittgers explained that the baby would be given a proper burial and added: “They had made plans now for more than two years to have a proper burial, proper memorial service, but we’ve asked them, even without having Annabelle back, asked them to hold off on balloon releases and a lot of things they’ve wanted to do because of the pending case.”
Richardson was is relieved to have been acquitted of the murder charges that she faced previously, and reassured the court that she was deeply sorry for what had happened.
She will now be placed on probation in a controlled program which will monitor her behavior, and she will have to report regularly to avoid a sentence of six months of incarceration.
The young woman was also sentenced to seven days in county jail, but she had already served that time during the case, so it is not going to weigh on her in the future.
Responses to the case have been mixed. While many have been critical of the woman’s actions, others have pointed out that she was acting in a state of desperation, and did not have access to the appropriate resources to deal with her situation the right way.
The woman has also expressed her deep regret over what had transpired, which seems to have worked in her favor in the courtroom.
Her behavior over the next three years is going to determine how her life will continue, and it is possible that she may be able to move past this situation without any serious repercussions later on.
One person had this reaction to the story and said that it had “white privilege” written all over it: “Yet they tried to charge a black mother with murder for getting punched in the stomach while fighting and killing her baby. You couldn’t have watched her trial on CNN ? , and prosecutors were saying that the baby was alive and well when she killed it.”
Another social media user shared this thought: “Oh, gawd. I can’t deal with this self-entitled woman. Quite frankly, ‘Ms. Cheerleader’ can go be besties with Casey Anthony.”
A defender of the women stated: “I almost didn’t watch this trial… so glad I did. Learned a lot about what works about our system and what doesn’t 🙁 But in the end, I have faith this jury made the right decision. And what a tear-jerker this was as well ? tragic on many levels!”
This critic explained: “Poor little rich girl. ? They didn’t even question why she had the baby on the toilet. She tried to flush her. Or at least drown her. How you are gonna, have a baby over water, unless you planned a water birth, and have any kind of room to grab a baby in the confined space of a toilet anyways?”
A Utah man was arrested after he allegedly tried to record Richardson’s family at a high school football game in Ohio a few days after the verdict.
