LEBANON, Ohio — Jurors have acquitted a young Ohio mother of charges that she killed and buried her newborn.
The Warren County jury deliberated for four hours Thursday before acquitting 20-year-old Brooke Skylar Richardson of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment.
She was found guilty of corpse abuse.
Prosecutors contended that the high school cheerleader wanted to keep her “perfect life.” They say she hid her unwanted pregnancy and buried her baby in her family’s backyard in May 2017, within days of her senior prom.
Her defense said the baby she named “Annabelle” was stillborn and that the teen was sad and scared.
The remains were found in July 2017 in Carlisle, a village about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Cincinnati.
Richardson faced life in prison if she had been convicted.
