True Crime with Kendall Rae - She Hid Her Pregnancy From EVERYONE! Brooke Skylar Richardson

Episode Date: April 22, 2022

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Hey guys, welcome back to my channel. Thanks for joining me for another video. So Chase's case is one that just gets me really riled up, very, very frustrating upsetting, and I know it's going to be controversial as well. So feel free to leave your opinions below because I know they're going to be all over the board. So this is Brooke Skyler Richardson. Most of the time she went by Skyler, which is her middle name. She was born and raised in Carlisle, Ohio, which is a very small town. It only has a population of 5,000 people. Brooke had a brother named Jackson,

and her parents were named Kim and Scott Richardson. And on the outside looking in, they had the perfect little life. Growing up, Skylar and Jackson were both really athletic and into sports. Jackson played on the football team, and Skylar was a cheerleader, a flyer, to be exact. So she's the person that's getting tossed up in the air, and she took cheerleading really seriously.

She also had really good grades, and was an overall well-like student She was on the student council and tried to be involved as much extra curricular things as she could however The pressure of being a flyer being the person that gets thrown up into the air really got to Skylar Skylar struggled with an eating disorder Bolivia and it was a really severe eating disorder. It was bad. It was taking over her whole life. Her parents even said that it controlled 90% of her life. According to her mom, it started really young around 12 years old. She said at that age, she remembers that Skyler didn't want to buy

gum because it had too many calories in it. I'll be honest, this is really hard for me to talk about. I have been open on this channel in the past about my own eating disorder. There's been a lot of criticism on Skyler's parents about whether they did enough to help or whether they encouraged the eating disorder in any way, especially her mom. Her mom's been accused of being very vain,

being into her body image and preshung Skylar to also care about her body image. So her mom says that it was because, you know, she was a flyer and maybe that was part of it. But I think there's a lot that goes into an eating disorder in most cases. But her parents said that they tried everything that they could to help her. They had her seeing doctors, their best nutritionists,

but nothing seemed to help her. Skylar her seeing doctors, their best nutritionists, but nothing seemed to help her. The Skylar was also someone who really liked to keep things to herself, likes to keep things private. She wasn't super-forward with information, especially with her parents. And that's a big part of this case. Skylar doesn't seem to feel comfortable going to her parents. Eventually Skylar was diagnosed with body dysmorphia, and she was in a really dark place when it came to her parents. Eventually, Skyler was diagnosed with body dysmorphia and she was in a really dark place when it came to her body. So in July of 2016, Skyler started dating one of her friends Cousins and I believe his name was Trey. They dated for a brief period of time, nothing too serious and eventually they ended the relationship. And going into 2017, Skyler

had a new boyfriend. He was a junior at her high school and his name was Brandon. Now, Skyler had a new boyfriend. He was a junior at her high school, and his name was Brandon. Now, Skyler really liked Brandon, and their relationship was the most serious relationship she had yet. Her parents really liked him, and they thought he was a good influence on her. And during this time, Skyler seemed very, very happy to them. She seemed at the best place mentally

that she had been in a really long time. And she was also gaining some weight, and her parents were really happy about that. They thought that maybe Skyler is gaining weight because she's happy, because she's in a healthy relationship. And they thought maybe the eating disorder was under control. So that's bringing her and her family

go on a beach vacation. Her parents thought she looked happy and healthy. There's a picture of her taken at this time. They were very pleased with where she was at in life and thought that she was headed towards being a healthier happier person. So as things were getting more serious with Brandon, her mom thought maybe Skyler should get on some birth control. Skyler agreed and they went to the OBGYN on April 26, 2017. When they got there, her mom waited in the waiting room, Skyler went in. But when she came out, it was clear that she had been crying.

Her mom was worried, obviously, but Skyler told her that it was just because it was her first gynecologist's appointment and she was nervous and it could be intimidating, which is somewhat believable. However, this was not the real reason she was crying. When she was in the doctor's office, Skyler was told that she would be giving birth in about 10 weeks. This is what she was told at the time, however, they actually didn't know how far along she was in the doctor's office, Skyler was told that she would be giving birth in about 10 weeks. This is what she was told at the time, however, they actually didn't know how far along she was because they weren't able to figure out when the baby was exactly conceived. They were actually off by quite a bit and she was already 36 weeks at that time, so she was very close to giving birth. While she was in there, she cried, she was very upset, she talked with the doctor about it and they offered to give her some prenatal care.

She didn't want any of that yet. She instead asked the doctor for that birth control prescription because she said that her mom would be upset if she came out of the appointment and didn't have it because that was their whole reason for coming there. So, the doctor made the decision and I really think this is a bad idea and a bad example But this doctor thought it was a good idea to give her the birth control prescription anyway Even though she's pregnant and she could take that birth control and it could affect the pregnancy At this point Skyler was 18 so it's not like they could tell her mom. There's confidentiality But they gave her the birth control

as long as she agreed that she would come back to get prenatal care very soon. So Skyler goes home with this information knowing that she's close to giving birth. And just a few days after she found out she went to prom with Brandon and wore a very skin tight red dress that she actually picked out in February. Meanwhile at

this point Skyler was eight months pregnant. She went to prom, eight months pregnant, none of the adults taking pictures notice her parents didn't notice her, date didn't notice, branded didn't notice, it's just insane. So she went to prom, she came home, and went about her life is normal. Now a few months after this. Police show up at their house and say that they need to talk to Skylar about something. They told her that she wasn't in trouble, they just needed to speak with her, so they brought her into the police department. This was on July 14th, 2017, and at this point Skylar's parents had no idea what they could possibly be talking about. Little did they know,

police actually got a call from the OB-GYN and they told them that Skyler was pregnant and that there were also rumors going around that Skyler had the baby and buried it in her back yard. So they brought her into the interrogation room and Skyler started telling them everything. She claimed that two months after her initial appointment, she did go back to the doctor's office and told them that she did

have a baby and that was born stillborn. She then starts telling the police about it. She says that on May 7th, 2017, she did give birth to a baby girl and she was born stillborn. She claimed that she started having labor pains pretty early in the day but didn't tell anyone and gave birth to the baby that night in the bathroom of her house. Meanwhile, her brother's room was right next to her. She said that the baby wasn't breathing when it was born and that she checked, but there was no heartbeat. She said that she tried everything that she could to help save the baby, but nothing worked. She says that after this, she went out into her backyard, dug a small grave, and by herself buried her new born

stillborn baby. In the interrogation room, she mentioned several times that she did not kill the baby that the baby was born stillborn. Now, this becomes the biggest part of this case. Was the baby was born stillborn. Now this becomes the biggest part of this case. Was the baby born alive or not? So after about an hour of questioning, I mean, Skyler didn't take long for her to break it all down for them. They tell her parents that your daughter had a baby, she's been pregnant this whole time and buried it in your backyard, your grandchild.

And they're just floored. So they walk in, they walk up to Skyler, give her hugs, she's instantly crying, she's calling her mom, mommy, she's apologizing and just confesses to all of it. I'm sorry for the years. I'm sorry. I'm just hungry. She told her parents that she named her baby Annabel and that it was the boyfriend before Brandon Trey, the friend's cousin that she kind of briefly saw.

It was his baby. So while they're talking to detectives, officers leave the station and go to the house and try to find the baby's body. Once they got to their house, it didn't take them long to locate the grave and find the baby. And they ended up bringing the baby to a pathologist to be looked at. So eventually Skyler and her parents went back home. I'm not sure what that time was like.

I'm sure it was very weird around the house. But six days later, the police called Skyler's parents and asked for Skyler to come back in for more questioning. So they brought Skyler in, and this is when they told her that there was actually a report from the pathologist saying that it looked like the baby had been burned, had been charred. At first she started telling the investigators that I have no idea what that could be. I didn't burn the baby. I don't know what they're talking about. However, after being pushed in interrogation, eventually Skyler changes their story and says that she may have burned the baby's legs a little bit with a lighter. I know this is really heavy upsetting stuff to talk about. This video is even hard for me to get through,

but she said that she tried to cremate the baby just a little bit with a lighter. I tried to cremate the baby just a little. It turned to creaming, you're gonna be mad when I'm not ready to get it. And the longer she was in there, Skyler started to change her initial story as well, saying that the baby was alive when she was born,

that she heard a little bit of gurgling. So after talking to Skyler and staying that the baby was alive when she was born, that she heard a little bit of gurgling. So after talking to Skylar and hearing that the baby could have been alive and that she could have burned it, Skylar was arrested with charges of reckless homicide. So Skylar was taken to jail. She did, of course, put up bail so she was able to go home before the trial started. Out on bond tonight, the 18-year-old Carlisle mother accused of killing, burning, and burying her newborn baby is now out of jail while she awaits trial.

The prosecutor's office had asked for a $1 million bond as his standard in cases like this, but Judge Donald Otis said because the family had been cooperative throughout this entire process, the bond be set at $50,000. This morning, Richardson walked into Judge Donald Otis Court, where she entered a plea of not guilty to murdering her newborn child. Two weeks later, the case was presented to a grand jury and she was given new charges. This time, she was charged with aggravated murder, which is a very serious charge.

In Ohio, this charge carries the life sentence. She was also charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, and abuse of a corpse. Now Skyler's parents thought this was absolutely absurd. They said there is no way that Skyler harmed that baby that it was born stillborn, but with these new charges she was arrested again and taken back to jail. But again, they bailed her out. So it didn't take long before the media got a hold of this story and spread it everywhere. This case definitely got into the gossip realm of the internet. The whole case enraged people and rightfully so.

People were protesting outside the courthouse demanding that she gets the harshest punishment possible. Justice for your baby! Where are your baby's points? People would even stand outside their house and protest. It was a really intense time. But as time went on, another pathology report came out and this time it said something completely different. It said the initial report was wrong

and there was actually no burning on the baby whatsoever. There was no sign of it being burned. And this becomes a big part of Skyler's defense. They believe that Skyler was made to give a false confession because she did go in there and said, I didn't set fire to the baby, I promised I didn't do it. And then after time, they actually were the ones who said, maybe you tried to cremate it just a little bit.

And eventually she said, yes, I did with a lighter, blah, blah, blah. And then the whole thing about the baby gurgling hearing the gurgle out of its mouth that was actually suggested by one of the detectives as well he said you know maybe you just heard a gurgle and she went along with that now whether or not she's telling the truth is up for debate I don't know but the defense was able to argue that she possibly was made to give a false confession especially with this evidence coming out that shows the baby was not burned. She was telling the truth initially and the whole thing about the lighter isn't real.

So that definitely makes you question the authenticity of her entire interrogation. But the prosecution did not change their stance on this. They stuck to the charges and said that Skyler admitted to burning the baby in the interrogation room whether the DNA evidence or the autopsy shows that they didn't care. So Skyler was placed on house rest during this time. She said that she spent a lot of time reading books. Skyler had plans to go to college at the University of Cincinnati, but those plans were put on hold. In July of 2019, the state contacted Skyler's lawyers and tried to make a deal. They said that they would take off the aggravated murder charge

if Skyler agreed to plead guilty to the rest of the charges. But Skyler decided not to take the plea. She said, in her own words, I will not confess to something that I didn't do. She was tempted. She goes, as soon as I heard him say aggravated's off the table. Yeah, because that's the scariest one. That's the scariest one. That's the scariest one. And she's like, I've been dealt so many bad hands.

This is probably the best option I'm going to get. Show me where it's gone right so far. So the trial started on September 3rd, 2019, so not even a year ago. And the biggest challenge for the prosecution here is that there is no evidence that the baby was alive when it came out. That's the big question. Was the baby still born or not? Their only evidence was that Skylar herself said that the baby was gurgling a little bit when it first came out.

Also, they were able to argue that since Skylar did go to the OBGYN and this was 11 days before she ended up giving birth, the baby's heartbeat was healthy and strong at that time and she went from being a healthy baby to still born in just 11 days and it was also proven that Skyler did end up taking those birth control pills 11 days before the baby was born and who knows, I mean I certainly don't know, but a doctor probably does what that would do to your body while you're carrying a baby. Also, it didn't seem like Skyler wanted this baby. She kept it a secret from everyone, including the baby's father. Like what's the alternative? Let's say that the baby was delivered in the bathroom that night and survived. What was her plan? She didn't have a nurse. We shouldn't have a crib. She didn't have bottles. She didn't have baby clothes. Would she have honestly taken the baby to her parents and said,

hey, I just had a baby and I'm going to take care of it now or maybe we need to give it up for adoption. She never had any sort of plan for what would happen with the baby once it was born, not that we knew of at least. Instead, she was googling things like how to get rid of a baby. Skyler had wanted to get an abortion. She did not want this baby, but it was too far in her pregnancy

when she found out for her to do that. So they argued that she probably did everything she could to sabotage the pregnancy. The prosecution also made the argument that Skyler's mom was obsessed with vanity and image. They said that Skyler and Jackson had extreme pressure on them to look like the perfect family, and they even argued that Skyler's mom knew about the pregnancy. And this is possible. Apparently, the doctor's office accidentally emailed

the pregnancy results to Skyler's mom. Skyler's mom actually texted her and said, what the hell is this email about? And Skyler convinced her that it wasn't true, and she didn't know what it was. But apparently Skylar's mom was saying things to her like, this better not be true or your life will be over. I mean, for someone to hide their pregnancy to the point that they give birth by themselves in their house,

you've got to wonder what type of relationship Skylar had with her mom. I mean, she clearly didn't feel like she could come to her in a situation like this. A lot of people argue that Skyler's mom knew about the baby and didn't want Skyler to have the baby because he would ruin the family's image of being perfect. And if you look back at that interrogation footage, there's this clip of Skyler's mom saying we had a perfect life. They also brought up text messages that Skyler had sent to her mom we had a perfect life. Now I have perfect life. They also brought up text messages that Skylar had sent to her mom leading up to the birth.

In one of these texts, she's talking about being worried to fit in that prom dress. She texts her mom and she says, I'm just in freak out mode. I wanna look amazing again more than anything. I hate being like this so much. Being like this, when her mom say like what? Also, this text message

she sent right after she gave birth. It said, I am literally so excited now just for dinner to wear something cute. Yay, my belly is back. Wouldn't you as a mom question what she means by that? I mean, even if you didn't assume it was a pregnancy, wouldn't you ask her about it because she has an eating disorder? One day, she even texted her mom saying that she had lost 20 pounds. Her mom replied to her and said, I could cry.

You're literally my hero. Do you see why I'm very skeptical about the parents saying they tried so hard to get Skylar help for her eating disorder? Also, I cannot confirm that this is true. I've read this online, but it's one of those details I don't like, I don't know. But apparently, it was announced

to her class room that she had lost 20 pounds and everyone clapped for her. Skyler's mom had apparently been making Skyler lose the weight with laxatives, which is so dangerous and so scary that she would ask her daughter to do that. She also told her that she need to be working out at the gym on a daily basis. So this is not stuff that you do as a parent if your child has a fucking eating disorder.

Also, Skyler had texted her boyfriend the night after she gave birth. She said last night was like the worst ever, but I feel so much better. I'm happy. Which makes you wonder, did Brandon actually know? Which he claims he didn't. At the trial the pathologist took the stand and explained about, you know, how they originally thought the baby was charred but then after further review they realized there was no burn marks on the baby was even born alive. Now keep in mind, it is hard to determine much on a fetus that has been buried for two months. The defense argued that Skyler had never cut an embilical cord and that means that it could have become detached during the pregnancy, meaning that would cause a stillbirth.

They also argued that Skyler described the baby's appearance as being really white and pale, which is typically how a stillborn looks. And they also argued that Skyler only gained 15 pounds during that pregnancy, which is super, super unhealthy. Her eating disorder was still in full force at this time. And giving the baby absolutely no nutrition could definitely cause a stillbirth. But on September 12, 2019, the jury

announced that they found Skylar not guilty on all charges. With regard to count one, we the jury in the above caption case find the defendant broke Skylar Richardson, not guilty of the offense of aggravated murder. Vertic form two involuntary manslaughter. We the jury in the above caption case hereby find the defendant. Brooke Schuyler Richardson. Not guilty of the offensive involuntary manslaughter.

Count three, child and dangerment. We the jury find the defendant. Brooke Schuyler Richardson. Not guilty of child and dangerment. Vertic Form number four. We the jury in the above caption case. Find the defendant Brooks Skyler Richardson guilty of the offense of abuse of the corpse.

But because Skyler did bury the baby, she was convicted of gross abuse of a corpse. And that is a felony charge and carries up to about a year in prison. But we all know that she's probably not going to get that. The next day Skyler was brought in for her sentence on the corpse abuse charge and this is when she was given three years of probation. Provision. Obviously the family was super relieved that she wasn't going to spend the rest of her life in jail and I am super curious to know what you guys think a proper sentence would have been here. I don't think she should have gotten a life sentence.

I don't even know if I think that the baby was born alive. I mean, there is a lot of evidence that the baby was born still born. There also was clearly inappropriate interrogation being used. So I think it'd be very hard to convict her. But I do feel like three years of probation is just not enough. I feel like that sends a really bad message out to other people. But I also understand that when you're young, your brain isn't fully developed enough to make rational decisions around things like this. And also, I know what an eating disorder does to someone. And it makes your thinking just so jumbled and irrational.

I think Skylar needs a lot of help. I hope they're getting her the help that she needs. But often gets overlooked, Ms. Richardson, is just how precious life is. Your life, Ann a bell's life. Life is precious. Richardson's father asked the judge to let his daughter come home as soon as possible

so they could help her address in eating disorder and take care of her health. They did say that they put her in an eating disorder program. And I hope, you know, they fall through with what they learn while she's in that. Their family put up a little angel statue in the backyard where Ann Bell was buried. Her parents say they still go out with what they learn while she's in that. Their family put up a little angel statue

in the backyard where Ann Bell was buried. Her parents say they still go out and sit there a lot and mourn her death. For a while, they didn't have the baby's body, obviously, because it was being looked at, but eventually it was returned to them. Skyler does have some consequences here though. She did not get into the university of Cincinnati

after applying again, and that was because of her felony charge. But she did go to a local college and eventually she says she wants to be a lawyer. And her defense lawyers gave her some type of job at their firm. And according to them, everyone loves her and she loves the job. I do have a lot of compassion for Skyler in the sense that she did have to go through this by herself. That she didn't feel like she could trust her parents enough to tell them. It's got to be traumatic to give birth by herself and then bury your newborn baby. But I do think

that she knew this was wrong and that showing that she wasn't going to take care of the baby at all in any capacity and just looking up how to get rid of it shows that she never wanted this baby. I can sometimes be selfish but I would like to think that I've become better in the knowledge that I've upset everyone and hurt so many people with what I've done and I'm forever sorry and I'm so sorry. I just feel like someone should have been held a little more accountable. That is going to be it for me today guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my

YouTube channel, which will be linked or you can just search Kendall Ray. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there. happy, and with the widest selection of used cars under $20,000, you are bound to find a car that will put a smile on your face. Carvana gives you control by letting you customize your down and monthly payments. You can browse tens of thousands of cars online to find one within your budget, and you won't get surprised with any bogus fees. Visit Carvana.com or download the app to shop for a vehicle. Carvana, we'll drive you happy.

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