STORY: "American cheerleader sentenced over secret backyard baby burial: ‘Grotesque disregard for life,’ by reporter Megan Palin, published by news.com.au on Sept. 14, 2019.
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Enough already. This young woman has been put through hell after being grossly overcharged with murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. (Acquitted on all of these.) Her lawyers aptly accused prosecutors of creating “a false narrative” to sensationalise the case. I couldn't agree more. When you don't have the pathological evidence on which to base a charge of murder just use the old prosecutor's trick: Sensationalize the case for all that its worth. Skylar Richardson should never have been charged with murder in the first place. The judge used some very harsh words at the sentencing hearing. But that's often the case when a judge chooses to keep out of jail a defendant who the prosecutor seeks to lock up forever. This judge showed compassion. As news.com.au reported: "What started as an 18-year-old high school girl who was frightened and saddened because of giving birth to a stillborn baby whom she named Annabelle and then telling her doctor of the stillborn and burial in the backyard turned into something sinister and grotesque,” one of her representatives told the court. Her defence team said there was no evidence the baby was born alive. “She buried her daughter and marked the grave with flowers on top of it. She didn’t throw her in a trash can. She didn’t throw her in a dumpster,” defence lawyer Charlie Rittgers said. “She was living under this dark cloud for the last two years. Living, quite frankly, a nightmare.” This was a terribly tragic situation. I do hope that Skyler, with the help of those around her, can somehow put this behind her as much as possible and lead a normal life.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
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GIST: A
former high school cheerleader found not guilty of killing her baby
after hiding her pregnancy has escaped further jail time for secretly
burying the child in her backyard. Brooke Skylar Richardson, 20, was acquitted of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges by a Warren County jury on Thursday in Ohio, US. She was found guilty on one count of abuse of a corpse — which holds a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment. In
court on Friday, Judge Donald Oda II ordered that Ms Richardson serve
three years probation. She was sentenced to seven days in jail, with
credit for time already served, rendering her free to go home. If she
violates her probation, she can spend up to a year in jail, according to
the judge. “I believe if you had made different decisions, Annabelle would still be here,” Mr Oda said of Ms Richardson’s dead baby. “I think that your choices before birth, during birth and after birth show a grotesque disregard for life.” Ms
Richardson was 18-years-old when she allegedly told a doctor in 2017
that she gave birth to a stillborn baby girl, who she named “Annabelle”,
and buried it in the backyard at her parents’ home in the village of
Carlisle, just north of Cincinnati. The physician reported the incident to police who soon located the child’s remains. Prior
to the sentencing on Friday, Ms Richardson’s father, Scott Richardson,
addressed the court and asked for his daughter to be released. “My
daughter is suffering from an eating disorder and we are concerned about
her health,” he said. The baby’s paternal grandmother read an emotional statement to the court. “Not
only did I lose my first grandchild, but my baby boy (Trey Johnson)
lost his daughter,” she said. “For a baby that she called ‘it’, we’re
just as much the family as she is. “I’ve watched my son become a different person. “I
won’t disclose his medical diagnosis because she’s done enough to him. I
can personally tell you that I’ve personally been seen for depression,
panic attacks, and I’m a shell of the person I was. “I would have
taken her in with Trey without a question. Now, instead, every May 7, I
don’t get to have a birthday party for my first grandchild. Instead, I
send her balloons to heaven, to tell her how much her daddy loved her,
and how much I loved her.” Ms Richardson then addressed the court. “I would do anything that you ask,” she said. “I can sometimes be selfish, but I’m getting better. I’m forever sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve hurt a lot of people.” Assistant Prosecutor Steve Knippen asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence. “It
is clear from the defendant’s actions that she never intended for
anyone to even know that her daughter existed or that the skeletal
remains would ever be discovered,” Mr Knippen said. He said if it
were not for Ms Richardson’s doctors who contacted authorities after she
admitted to having the baby alone, “that child would still be buried in
the backyard of their home without anyone knowing”. The former
Ohio high school cheerleader gave birth in the bathroom at her family
home on May 1, 2017. It was just a few days after her senior prom and
weeks before she was set to start college. Her parents and friends said
she hid the pregnancy from them. Assistant Prosecutor Julie Kraft said Ms Richardson didn’t tell anyone when she gave birth to her daughter. “Brooke took her own daughter’s life, destroyed all evidence of her birth and buried her in the backyard,” Ms Kraft said. But she returned to her doctor for birth control a few weeks later where she arose suspicion. Ms
Richardson was later charged with aggravated murder, involuntary
manslaughter, gross abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and child
endangering and pleaded not guilty. According to her legal team,
Ms Richardson kept quiet because she didn’t realise she was due so soon,
and her response was normal for a scared teenager. In
opening statements last week, prosecutors alleged Ms Richardson gave
birth alone, buried the baby, disposed of the evidence and kept it a
secret from everyone — including her parents. According to
prosecutors, Ms Richardson “purposely” caused the baby’s death, saying
the family was “obsessed” with external appearances and wanted to
prevent a potential interruption of their lives. The court heard
that Ms Richardson had an “extreme” reaction after being told she was
pregnant and did not return for follow-up prenatal visits. County
prosecutor David Fornshell previously said Ms Richardson and her family
had been worried about the community’s reaction to her out-of-wedlock
pregnancy. “Skylar and her family, particularly her mother, were
pretty obsessed with external appearances and how things appeared to the
outside world,” he said. “You have a situation where, you know,
she’s a cute high school, recent high school graduate; she was a
cheerleader described (as) a good girl by her lawyer as you heard after
the arraignment. “And I think that kind of perception is one that Skylar wanted to perpetuate and her mother wanted to perpetuate.” Another
physician called police after Ms Richardson came in months later and
told her she had “gone into labour, delivered a stillborn baby and
buried the baby in her backyard,” according to court papers. Her lawyers accused prosecutors of creating “a false narrative” to sensationalise the case. “What
started as an 18-year-old high school girl who was frightened and
saddened because of giving birth to a stillborn baby whom she named
Annabelle and then telling her doctor of the stillborn and burial in the
backyard turned into something sinister and grotesque,” one of her
representatives told the court. Her defence team said there was no evidence the baby was born alive. “She
buried her daughter and marked the grave with flowers on top of it. She
didn’t throw her in a trash can. She didn’t throw her in a dumpster,”
defence lawyer Charlie Rittgers said. “She was living under this dark cloud for the last two years. Living, quite frankly, a nightmare.”
Ms
Richardson had been under house arrest for more than a year after a
judge ordered a curfew of 9pm to 7am, random home visits and for her to
be subject to GPS monitoring."
The entire story can be read at:
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
