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129 pages

English

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The true story of the criminal case filed against Brooke Skylar Richardson, a Carlisle, Ohio, teen accused of murdering her newborn in 2017.

The case of Brooke Skylar Richardson, a Carlisle, Ohio teenager, dominated world headlines for more than three years. Authorities alleged that Skylar, an eighteen-year-old high school honors student and cheerleader who had no idea she was pregnant for months, quietly gave birth to her daughter, Annabelle, in May 2017, hours after her high school prom and then killed, burned, and buried her in the backyard of her family’s home.

Sonia Chopra, the only reporter who interviewed Skylar, found her to be a frightened, traumatized teen who struggled with eating disorders, survived a sexual assault in eighth grade and relentless bullying, and was now coping with grief after losing a baby whose growth was likely stunted by her disease. While taking others behind the sensational headlines, Chopra highlights Skylar’s side of the story and her quest for justice as her two attorneys tenaciously battled to save her from life in prison without the possibility of parole and faced the challenges of defending a naïve teen who falsely confessed to police. Was it murder or a medical tragedy?

Saving Skylar shares the true story of the criminal case filed against Brooke Skylar Richardson, a Carlisle, Ohio, teen accused of murdering her newborn in 2017.

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True Crime

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Publié par	Archway Publishing
Date de parution	11 mai 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781665722964
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Saving Skylar
The Brooke Skylar Richardson Case

SONIA CHOPRA

Copyright © 2022 Sonia Chopra.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2295-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2296-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022908235

Archway Publishing rev. date: 09/08/2022
Contents
Annabelle
The Lead Attorney
An All-American Family
Skylar’s early life
Skylar’s Eating Disorder
Skylar’s Academic Life
Skylar’s High School Years
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
May 6, 2017
Annabelle’s Birth and Death
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
Friday, July 14, 2017
July 14, 2017
Friday, July 14, 2017 (evening)
Thursday, July 20, 2017
July/August
Skylar’s First Court Appearance
Media and Social Media
The Indictment and the Second Arrest
The Press Conference
Skylar Spends the Weekend in Jail
Skylar’s Bond Hearing
Skylar Was Grateful for the Trust and Respect from the Attorneys
Skylar Gets a Job
The Trial
Opening Statements and State Witnesses
State Witnesses
The Other State Witnesses:
Defense Experts
Character Witnesses
Dropping the Tampering of Evidence Charge
Closing Statements
Before the Verdict
The Verdict
The Sentencing
Probation Hearing
Current Day
About the Author
For Josh and Sanjay, my loves, my life, my faith, my destiny, my world, my everyt hing
This book is dedicated to the memory of Annabelle Grace Richar dson.
AND
Brooke Skylar Richar dson
Saving Skylar is a work of nonfiction about a criminal case filed against Brooke Skylar Richardson, a Carlisle, Ohio teen. The narrative is based on hundreds of hours of interviews with Richardson’s family, relatives, friends, neighbors, and her attorneys. No scenes were invented. All events and dialogues which were not witnessed firsthand are based on personal accounts and court records.

Annab elle
Sunday, May 7, 2017.
In Carlisle, Ohio, Skylar glanced at her phone. The figures glowed brightly. It was 3:00 a.m. For years, she had had insomnia. In the past few weeks though, her antidepressant had made her sleep better. She would fall asleep quickly, but she would wake up several times during the night.
But this night was different. Skylar had not slept at all. She was in so much pain. She tried to settle into her bed, but the cramps in her lower back were unbearable. Skylar had struggled with cramps for two days. She had used a heating pad. Now, she fought back her anxiety and fear.
Even though she had just graduated from high school with honors, she was an unworldly, naïve, sheltered eighteen-year-old. Skylar had never experienced such intense pain in her entire life. She walks out of her room and to the top of the stairs. She wanted to get some Alieve for the pain, but she couldn’t keep her legs under her.
She walked seven steps to the bathroom and sat down on the toilet. She felt the urge to urinate and delivered a baby. It slipped through her hands into the toilet briefly, even though Skylar had her hands out to catch her. The baby was shockingly white, eyes closed, and the umbilical cord was not attached. The baby was not breathing or moving, and was making no sounds.
Skylar grabbed a towel off the towel rack and swaddled her baby. She sat down on the bathroom floor, with her pajama shorts off, half-naked and bleeding, leaning her back up against the bathtub. The toilet was facing her. She shivered in her pajama top.
She sat with her butt on the ground, touched her daughter, cried, and named her Annabelle Grace.
The baby stayed still.
Skylar had just given birth by herself. She had not dared to tell her parents or relatives or friends. No one, including her, had even guessed that she was pregnant. The doctor had told her she was thirty-two weeks along but that she had ten weeks to break it to her family. Ten whole weeks.
Later, she could not recall how much time it took to deliver the baby because she was so focused on being quiet.
Still in severe pain, Skylar stood up, walked downstairs to the garage, and she got a little garden trowel that her mom used. Barefoot, she walked to the tree line, and with all the strength she had left, she dug a small hole. She placed Annabelle inside, covered her with dirt, and dragged a twenty-five-pound terra cotta pot over and put it in on the gravesite to mark it. She got pink carnations from the fire pit and put them on the tiny grave.
Skylar picked that particular spot between the two trees because it was fifty yards away from her bedroom. And from her window, she would be able to see Annabelle’s gravesite. Her decision to bury her stillborn baby would mean that, for years, Skylar would be judged harshly by her community, authorities, and media.
She did not call 911. She did not take the baby to the hospital. She did not tell her family. Those choices would have unimaginable consequences. But at that time, Skylar did not know that.
Directly opposite to where Skylar had dug was her parents’ bedroom window, Kim and Scott. Her mother’s side of the bed faced the windows, bare with the drapes open, keeping it uncovered. Had she woken up, Kim would have seen the dramatic scene unfolding. Perhaps an ambulance would have come in the middle of the night and the baby’s death would have been documented as a medical tragedy. And perhaps there would have been no charges and no trial. Perhaps …
Skylar quickly cleaned the bathroom that she shared with her brother, Jackson, between their bedrooms. It was not spotlessly clean, but there was no blood visible. Nothing that indicated a secret birth. Then, she collapsed into bed.
Miraculously, her family stayed fast asleep, undisturbed. The family dogs, Norman and Peanut, loved and spoiled by Skylar, did not make a sound. Norman, as usual, crept into bed with Skylar, and she cried herself to sleep. It was 5:30 a.m.
The Lead Atto rney
Charlie M. Rittgers pushed open the tall, wooden double doors of his law firm and walked past the polished hardwood floors, the oriental rugs, and the old brass bell at the reception, a reminder of the years gone by. He didn’t glance at the framed newspaper clippings from various cases they had won through the decades as he climbed the stairs to his office.
It was classy but comfortable. The kind of place where you felt safe as you confided your questionable choices and mistakes to Charlie M., the head of the prestigious law firm Rittgers & Rittgers. They were among the best lawyers in Southwest Ohio. They handled all the high-profile cases that drew extensive media coverage.
Twelve years earlier, Charlie M. had taken over the firm, which was started by his father, Charlie H., and his mother, Ellen Rittgers. By his late thirties, Charlie M. was at the top of his game. He had made all the “best lawyer” lists. He was winning nine of ten trials, resolving others by pleas, and settling civil suits. He was a familiar figure in the power corridors of legal circles. His cases consumed him. He was determined to save his clients. He was also passionate, like me, about the presumption of innocence. He’s an attorney and I am a reporter and though we were very different, we both felt deeply about the concepts of injustice and unfairness.
Within weeks, he would get the most challenging case of his career. It was going to be a high-profile one with unprecedented worldwide media coverage, and the pressure to win it would change him as a man and as an attorney. But he didn’t know that yet.
An All -A merican Fa mily
The Richardson family’s journey began traditionally enough. Kim and Scott met, dated, married, and had two kids. They built a close-knit family unit with grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins. It was a life filled with barbeques, bonfires, birthdays, parties, and informal get-togethers. Laughter, happiness, and fun. The kids were supposed to go to college, and everything was on track for their happily ever after.
Kim and Scott were from Carlisle and Middletown, respectively. They met while playing volleyball for the YMCA. They clicked instantly. They grew up poor, and they both worked so that they could have a good home and the basics. Kim is a human resources manager, and Scott is an accountant.
Skylar’s early life

Skylar at eighteen months.
Two years into their marriage, Skylar was born on March 9, 1999. Scott liked the name Brooke, and Kim liked the name Skylar, so they used both. She was nam