Ohio baby was burned before backyard burial, prosecutor says

A five-count indictment was handed down today for Brooke Skylar Richardson.

Those counts were for aggravated murder, a special felony; involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony; endangering children, a third-degree felony; tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and gross abuse of a corpse, a fifth-degree felony, Fornshell said.

The general allegations are that some time between May 6 and May 7, Richardson gave birth to the newborn and caused the baby’s death. She reportedly burned the infant and buried the infant in her backyard, Fornshell said.

This is not a death penalty case, he added.

It’s believed the baby was only alive for hours. The baby was born at about 38 weeks to 40 weeks, just days after the teen’s high school prom.

Fornshell said he didn’t want to speculate on motive, but continued to say it was a perception issue and the teen’s mother was concerned about appearances. He estimated about half of Carlisle knew Richardson was pregnant prior to the birth.

Fornshell said any involvement of others is still under investigation.

“There are a lot of questions our office still has,” Fornshell said.

The prosecutor’s office believes it knows who the father is.

“I’m not going to play a game of Maury Povich up here,” Fornshell said.

Richardson has been returned to the Warren County Jail.

If she is convicted of aggravated murder, she could face 20 years to life in prison or life in prison without parole.

Fornshell said the most difficult part of this case for him is why the newborn baby wasn’t just driven to a fire station and dropped off if it was an unwanted pregnancy.

“In her (Brooke’s) mind, this was something that was not going to be accepted,” Fornshell said. “People would be clamoring for (that baby).”

EARLIER:

Brooke Skylar Richardson has been indicted for aggravated murder and other charges by a Warren County grand jury.

Richardson is accused in the death of her newborn baby, found weeks later buried in her backyard on Eagle Ridge Drive in Carlisle.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit and the coroner went to the address on Eagle Ridge Drive on specific information from a specific source that there were “possibly some skeletal remains in the backyard of this property,” Lt. John Faine, of the Sheriff’s Office said.

Warren County Coroner Dr. Russell Uptegrove said earlier that his office was not able to determine the sex of the infant from the remains, which are two months old.

The case became public July 14 when investigators, acting on a tip from a doctor’s office that a Carlisle teenager may have delivered a stillborn infant, began a search for the infant. Investigators later found an infant’s remains buried in the backyard at Richardson’s residence.