CARLISLE MOM POSTS BOND
Not-guilty plea entered for recent grad accused of aggravated murder.
WARREN COUNTY —
A Carlisle teen charged with aggravated murder and other felonies for allegedly killing her newborn baby and burning the child’s body was given a $50,000 bond Monday during arraignment in Warren County Common Pleas Court.
She was out of the Warren County Jail within three hours after posting 10 percent of the bond.
Brooke Skylar Richardson, 18, is also charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Defense attorney Charlie M. Rittgers entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.
Judge Donald Oda II asked her a few standard questions to which she answered “yes, sir” or “no, sir.”
Oda told Richardson, “I do not believe you pose imminent threat to society,” before imposing a relativity low bond for the stiff charges that could mean life in prison if the teen is convicted. He ordered Richardson on house arrest if she posted bond, and her family turned over passports as more assurance to the court.
Richardson, who graduated from Carlisle High School in May, is accused of giving birth to a baby just days after her prom, killing it, burning the body and burying it in the backyard of her home on Eagle Ridge Drive.
She was first arrested last month after a physician’s office informed the Carlisle police about a possible stillborn birth. The baby’s
remains were unearthed, and Richardson was charged with reckless homicide. A bond of $15,000 set in Franklin Municipal Court and quickly posted.
Richardson was at home last Friday when the more serious indictment was handed down by a Warren County grand jury, and she was taken into custody by deputies.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell asked the judge to set $1 million bond for Richardson given the seriousness of the crimes.
After the hearing, he acknowledged Richardson had showed up for court appearances in the past. Oda said during the hearing the sole reason for bond is to assure the appearance of the defendant for court.
Ric h ar d son’s family attended the short hear- ing and left without com- ment.
But Rittgers was clear, “I can tell you Brooke Sky- lar Richardson did not kill her baby.”
He said the defense has filed motions for a bill of particulars of the indicted charges and evidence in the case.
Fornshell said that two days after the Carlisle High School prom, sometime between May 6 and May 7, Richardson gave birth to the newborn and caused the child’s death. She reportedly burned the infant and then buried it in her back- yard, Fornshell said.
According to Fornshell, everything occurred over a period of a few hours after the baby was born. He said the baby was born at about 38 weeks to 40 weeks — full term. Carlisle police were notified July 14 by Richardson’s OB-GYN’s office about a possible stillborn baby, Fornshell said.
He would not say how long the baby was alive before it was killed.
“We may never know the medical cause of the baby’s death,” he said. He declined to say what the sex of the baby was. The baby remains at the Montgomery County Coro- ner’s Office. Dr. Russell Uptegrove said the baby will remain there in the foresee- able future until evidence examinations are complete. Rittgers said he anticipates the defense will also have its own experts examine the remains. Fornshell said they believe they know who the father of the baby is, but are awaiting DNA test results before determining definitively.
“The matter is under investigation currently. It is an open and active investigation so I am not going to make any comments on what someone else may have done, what they knew, when the knew it,” Fornshell said.
If prosecutors believe anyone else’s knowledge rose to the level of a criminal offense, it could be represented to the grand jury.