Judge grants early end to probation for Brooke Skylar Richardson

WARREN COUNTY — Brooke Skylar Richardson, through her lawyers, asked a Warren County judge to terminate her probation early after she was sentenced to three years probation last fall.

Judge Donald Oda granted the request Tuesday morning during a hearing. She served 14 months of the 3-year probation sentence.

Richardson told the court she’s sorry for what she’s put everyone through. She said she has remorse and “suffers in silence.”

She told the court she “wants to be a normal person again.”

Richardson was found guilty of gross abuse of a corpse after she had her baby in secret and buried her in the backyard of her Carlisle home in May 2017.

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She was acquitted on charges of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, and child endangering, and the Warren County prosecutor said that was most likely because the prosecution couldn’t produce a cause of death of the baby.

Oda said he is aware of the perception in the case, but said the reality is she was convicted of a low-level felony and had no prior record. He said there have never been any issues with Richardson since her sentencing or before her trial.

“Richardson has been on probation for fourteen months and has been fully compliant,” Charlie Rittgers, her attorney, said in a filing in Warren County Common Pleas Court. “Since the start of probation, she completed two semesters of college, has a cumulative GPA of over 3.8, and currently has a GPA 4.0 for her most recent semester.”

Tuesday, Richardson said she has been working on her mental health and wants to be able to go to college and eventually become a public defender to continue in society.

Rittgers said in addition to her school work, Richardson also has been working about 10 hours a week and also sought alternative employment, but was rejected due to her probation.

Richardson also has “been actively engaged in her recovery and continuing treatment for her mental health,” the filing read.

Cox Media Group