An Ohio mother, 20, acquitted of the murder of a newborn and convicted of corpse abuse



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A young mother from Ohio was acquitted Thursday of her charges of killing her unwanted newborn.

The Warren County jury deliberated for four hours before acquitting Brooke Skylar Richardson, 20, of aggravated murder, manslaughter and endangering a child.

Richardson, a former high school cheerleader, was found guilty of abusing a corpse and was to be sentenced on Friday. This charge can be up to one year in prison, but she could be sentenced to probation as a primary offender.

Richardson was facing life imprisonment if she had been convicted of all charges.

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Prosecutors said Richardson wanted to keep his "perfect life" and tried to do so by hiding his unwanted pregnancy, and then buried his baby in his family's garden in May 2017, just days after graduation. The remains were found in July in Carlisle, a village about 40 miles north of Cincinnati.

The Richardson Defense Team stated that the baby she had named "Annabelle" was stillborn and that the teenager was sad and scared.

Brooke

Brooke "Skylar" Richardson enters the courthouse before closing the closing arguments of his lawsuit in Warren County Court, Common Pleas Court, on Thursday, September 12, 2019 in Lebanon, Ohio. Richardson, accused of killing and burying his newborn daughter, pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and other charges. (Nick Graham / The Journal-News via AP)

Prosecutors said the circumstantial evidence indicated murder, saying Richardson had cleaned up a bloody mess and sent a text message to his mother saying that she was "happy" to see her belly shrink after she left home. baby.

A medical examiner testified on behalf of the prosecution that she had concluded that the baby had died as a result of "homicidal violence". Prosecutors said Richardson had searched the Internet "how to get rid of a baby". They played a video for the jury of an interview with the police in which Richardson said the baby could have moved and made noise.

Cincinnati psychologist Stuart Bassman said "Skylar was manipulated" to make false statements during interrogations. He described Richardson as a vulnerable and immature person whose dependent personality disorder makes him want to please authority figures, even to the point of making false incriminating statements.

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Julie Kraft, an Assistant Attorney, suggested that, in addition to the desire to please the authorities, Richardson's desire to please her family and boyfriend, and the fear that she would abandon her, might have to incite him to commit extreme acts.

The trial has benefited from a daily coverage of Court TV and at least two news magazines from the national television channel have planned reports on this subject.

The case had divided the village of about 5,000 people in his village, with Facebook pages devoted to it and critics trying to record the comings and goings of the Richardson family on social networks.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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