Defense asks judge to lift house arrest for Ohio teen suspected in buried newborn case

Brooke Skylar Richardson appears during a pretrial hearing Thursday at the Warren County Courthouse in Lebanon, Ohio. Richardson is charged with aggravated murder and other charges. Richardson is accused of killing her newborn baby and burying her in the backyard.
Brooke Skylar Richardson appears during a pretrial hearing Thursday at the Warren County Courthouse in Lebanon, Ohio. Richardson is charged with aggravated murder and other charges. Richardson is accused of killing her newborn baby and burying her in the backyard. Cara Owsley — The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP

By The Associated Press

Brooke Skylar Richardson appears during a pretrial hearing Thursday at the Warren County Courthouse in Lebanon, Ohio. Richardson is charged with aggravated murder and other charges. Richardson is accused of killing her newborn baby and burying her in the backyard.
Brooke Skylar Richardson appears during a pretrial hearing Thursday at the Warren County Courthouse in Lebanon, Ohio. Richardson is charged with aggravated murder and other charges. Richardson is accused of killing her newborn baby and burying her in the backyard. Cara Owsley — The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP

LEBANON >> Defense attorneys are asking a judge to lift house arrest for a teen facing trial on charges she killed and buried her newborn baby near her family’s southwestern Ohio home.

Attorneys for 19-year-old Brooke Skylar Richardson filed a motion Monday in Warren County after a judge postponed her murder trial while a state appeals court rules on a dispute over medical testimony.

The motion says Richardson hasn’t committed any infractions since being placed on house arrest last summer. Prosecutors replied Tuesday that they adamantly oppose lifting restrictions, citing the interests of ensuring her appearance and for “public safety.”

Richardson is accused of burying her full-term baby last July shortly after giving birth in Carlisle, a village 40 miles north of Cincinnati.

Defense attorneys argue the baby was stillborn.

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