LEBANON, Ohio – Attorneys for Brooke Skylar Richardson, who is accused of killing and burying her baby in the backyard of her home, have filed a motion requesting that the jurors be allowed to view her home. They write that “all the material facts in the case” occurred at her Carlisle home and the jury should be permitted to view that residence.
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LEBANON, Ohio - Brooke Skylar Richardson, who was acquitted last year of most charges in the death of her newborn child, told a judge Tuesday that she wants to “be a normal person again.” “That’s all,” the 21-year-old said during a hearing in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
But defense attorney Charlie M. Rittgers says Skylar just told the police what they wanted to hear. Charlie M. Rittgers : We know that the police were able to break her down and made her vulnerable and admit to something that is scientifically impossible. … Burning of a baby. This doctor many weeks later said, "I was wrong." …
Scott Richardson: Absolutely not. Now 20 years old, Brooke, known as Skylar, is accused of killing her newborn daughter. If convicted, she could spend the rest of her life in prison.
PROSECUTOR DAVID FORNSHELL: Skylar and her family … were pretty obsessed with external appearances. REPORTER: You're describing a spoiled, self-entitled teenager who was more worried about vanity than keeping the life of a baby alive.
For more than a year, Skylar's parents, Kim and Scott Richardson, gave "48 Hours" unique access to their story. But on the advice of their lawyers, Skylar couldn't talk to us.
and then come back down to the ground. But it also meant she had to be easy to lift and catch. Kim says it was the beginning of Skylar's battle with her weight.
Skylar was fitted with an ankle bracelet and placed under house arrest. She spent much of her time reading books and hanging out with her dogs. Skylar Richardson CBS News. In the backyard, under a pine tree, her parents placed an angel ornament to mark the spot where Skylar once buried the baby she called Annabelle.
Skylar Richardson spent the weekend in jail, until her family could come up with the $50,000 bond. It was a surreal experience for her parents.
Nine days later, on May 5, Skylar and Brandon went to the prom. Despite being late into her pregnancy, she fit into her gown. At left, Skylar Richardson is pictured in her prom dress in February 2017 and, at right, in May 2017. Kim Richardson.
Kim Richardson: Yes. Very. … Every move we make, everything we do, we're judged, we're followed, stalked … We were crucified. And that's putting it mildly.
Kim Richardson: They would take turns sitting out in front of our house, and they would set up a schedule to watch our comings and goings. … I would see pictures of myself out on my back deck.
Sneak peek: The Case Against Brooke Skylar Ri... 03:00. Brooke Skylar Richardson, the former high school cheerleader who once faced the potential of life in prison, is home with her family and planning to go to college. Last fall, the now-21-year-old Ohio woman was acquitted of charges ...
"It was a Sunday morning and she woke up – and I can still see her sitting on the couch," says Kim Richardson, Skylar's mother.
Skylar Richardson still struggles with an eating disorder and is receiving treatment, but is planning on attending college in Kentucky this fall.
In July 2019, the prosecutors approached Richardson's lawyers, Charles H. Rittgers and his son, Charles M. Rittgers, with an offer of a plea deal that would have dropped the aggravated murder charge but would have still sent Richardson to prison.
On July 14, 2017, when Scott Richardson drove his daughter Skylar to the Carlisle Police station, he had no idea that she had been keeping a secret.
Skylar Richardson spent the weekend in jail, until her family could come up with the $50,000 bond. It was a surreal experience for her parents.
For more than two years, Skylar Richardson and her family have been bracing for her trial.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, call the National Eating Disorder Association Helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
He said a child would not have been an acceptable outcome for the family. Kim Richardson, Skylar's mother, has been subpoenaed and will likely testify.
It had been two months after birth before police searched the backyard of Richardson's home. She was in tremendous pain, Richardson told police, and couldn’t dig a deep grave.
Prosecutors in this affluent southwestern Ohio county said Richardson's family was obsessed with external appearances and wouldn't accept her pregnancy. They said she deliberately killed her baby so no one would ever find out she was pregnant.
But she also told her daughter "people get pregnant every day" and she would have supported her.
Richardson asked her parents if they loved her. They told her they did. A few minutes later, she would ask again.
The Enquirer has had multiple journalists in the courtroom all week. If you haven't been paying attention, or even if you have, here's what you missed in the trial's first week – and what to expect as it continues.
In a police report detailed in court, a detective wrote Richardson lit her baby’s foot on fire with a lighter . The flames reached the baby’s chest before Richardson put them out. This is what Richardson told police in her second interview.