Ohio cheerleader Brooke Skylar Richardson, 20, on trial for murder

Ohio cheerleader Brooke Skylar Richardson, 20, arrives in court to begin her murder trial for ‘bashing in her newborn daughter’s skull and burying her in the yard just days after her high school prom’

Brooke Skylar Richardson, now 20, appeared in court on September 3 in Warren County, Ohio, as jury selection got underway in her aggravated murder trial
Richardson delivered a healthy baby to term in July 2017 and then allegedly smashed her skull and buried her in the backyard say prosecutors
Richardson, an 18-year-old when she was alleged to have carried out the killing, faces charges of aggravated murder and involuntary manslaughter
Because of the high profile trial, Warren County Judge Donald Oda said jurors would complete a questionnaire prior to selection to try to ensure fairness

The trial of an Ohio cheerleader accused of killing her newborn daughter and then burying the body in her family’s backyard just days after her prom is now underway.

Brooke Skylar Richardson, now 20, appeared in Warren County Court on Tuesday as jury selection began, more than two years after the death of baby Annabelle.

Richardson, an 18-year-old when she was alleged to have carried out the killing, faces charges of aggravated murder and involuntary manslaughter which could see her slapped with a life sentence if found guilty.

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Brooke Skylar Richardson, now 20, appeared in Warren County Court on Tuesday as jury selection began, a little over two years after the death of baby Annabelle

High school high: Brooke Skylar Richardson, now 20, will head to court on September 3 in Warren County as jury selection gets underway in her trial (Richardson days before she gave birth on left and right in her cheerleader uniform)

Warren County Judge Donald Oda said jurors would complete a questionnaire prior to selection.

He said the jury pool was much larger for this case and selection would be completed in stages.

‘We have so many jurors here today because this trial has garnered some level of tension in the press and on social media,’ Oda said, explaining that the state was doing its utmost to avoid prejudicing the trial by having jurors with substantial prior knowledge of the case.

Richardson delivered a healthy baby to term in July 2017 and then allegedly smashed her skull and may even have lit the infant on fire in an attempt to burn the corpse – although a forensic anthropologist later appeared to recant that claim.

Brooke Skylar Richardson, center, arrives with her father Scott Richardson, left, for jury selection in her trial at the Warren County Courthouse Tuesday, September 3

Richardson’s attorneys say she experienced a stillbirth and buried a fetus delivered at 33 weeks in the backyard.

The state however argue that she purposefully killed an infant born alive because she did not want to be pregnant.

Authorities first learned of the baby from a doctor Richardson had visited just a few weeks before she gave birth.

Richardson was full term when she gave birth to the girl, delivering the child in her bathroom.

The remains were found soon after, and prosecutors believe that Richardson buried the baby shortly after giving birth.

Brooke Skylar Richardson, center, arrives with her father Scott Richardson, left, for jury selection in her trial at the Warren County Courthouse Tuesday, September 3

Defense attorney Charlie M. Rittgers makes a statement to potential jurors during Brooke Skylar Richardson trial at the Warren County Courthouse, Tuesday

Defense attorney Charles H. Rittgers said the case would be based on the second interrogation of Skylar Richardson.

‘Police in the first interrogation, she said she had a stillborn birth and they don’t file charges,’ Rittgers said.

‘After hearing from a doctor six days later, police are told to get a confession and that the baby is burned. What police don’t say, that doctor was wrong. He said he was wrong.

‘The police told Skylar it would be better to say the baby was cremated and not burned. She denied this 17 times. Thankfully we will see this.’

County Prosecutor David Fornshell said Skylar, as she is known, and her family had been worried about community reaction to her out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

Julie Kraft, Warren County assistant prosecutor makes a statement to potential jurors during Brooke Skylar Richardson trial at the Warren County Courthouse on Tuesday

‘Skylar and her family, particularly her mother, were pretty obsessed with external appearances and how things appeared to the outside world,’ he said early in the proceedings.

‘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 attorney 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.’

Two Facebook pages have been dedicated to the case and critics of the family have shot and posted video and photos of the family and their home, often with sharp commentary.

Support team: The defense is hoping to keep evidence suggesting Richardson may have tried to burn the baby in the wake of her death from emerging at trial (Richardson and her parents arrive in court back in August 2017)

Charges: Richardson delivered a healthy baby to term in July 2017 and then allegedly smashed her skull and buried her in the backyard (left in mugshot, right in court in April 2018)

Her defense attorneys have blasted prosecutors for ‘a false narrative’ that sensationalized the case.

They say she didn’t kill the baby, and that an expert witness concluded there was no sign of burning or of trauma that would have caused the baby’s death.

‘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,’ they said in a motion to move the trial.

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