Brooke Skylar Richardson as a jury reads a not guilty verdict on the three most serious charges. Photo / Supplied
Brooke Skylar Richardson as a jury reads a not guilty verdict on the three most serious charges. Photo / Supplied
The mum and dad of a high school cheerleader who secretly gave birth to a baby girl and buried her in the backyard have given a TV interview.
The parents of former high school cheerleader Brooke Skylar Richardson, who buried her dead newborn baby in the family's backyard, have spoken about the "nightmare" the family has endured.
Kim and Scott Richardson sat down with the US television show 48 Hours to speak for the first time since their daughter was acquitted of a string of serious chargers over the incident.
The shell-shocked parents said they had no idea about their then 18-year-old's pregnancy, showing photographs of Brooke the month before she gave birth with no noticeable signs.
"Here's her track (team) photo," Kim told the program. "This was track season in April — and you can't tell. Seriously, we missed everything."
There was also the family holiday to the beach just a few months prior, when she worse a two-piece swimsuit and looked healthy.
And there was her form-fitting prom gown less than 48 hours before she gave birth in the bathroom of their home, in the village of Carlisle, just north of Cincinnati in the state of Ohio.
Brooke 'Skylar' Richardson pictured days before she gave birth to a baby she claimed was stillborn. Photo / Supplied
Part of the reason Kim and Scott say they missed the signs of the pregnancy was Brooke's long battle with an eating disorder.
She was in primary school when her mum first noticed her preoccupation with weight and dieting.
"Twelve years old, she wouldn't buy gum because it had five calories. I didn't even know gum had calories," Kim said.
During cheerleading season, she would starve herself and throw up to lose weight. Her parents took her to doctors and therapists, who diagnosed Brook with body dysmorphia.
Vision of Brooke in the police interrogation room after her parents discover what happened. Photo / Supplied
Brooke Skylar Richardson as a jury reads a not guilty verdict on the three most serious charges. Photo / Supplied
Prosecutors claimed in court that Brooke gave birth to a little girl she named Annabelle in May 2017 in secret and, not wanting to be a single mum, they accused her of killing the baby by crushing her, setting her on fire and burying the body.
However, she always denied murdering her baby, claiming Annabelle was stillborn and she panicked.
She was eventually found not guilty of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, but was found guilty of abuse of a corpse and received three years' probation.
48 Hours included snippets from Brooke's interview with police, where she insisted: "I did not try and kill my baby."
Scott said that the family thought co-operating with authorities was the right thing to do, but conceded in the end it had "turned out to be the absolute wrong thing".
When police first approached the family, they said it was to speak to Brooke about something she may have witnessed, he claimed.
"They said, 'She's not in any trouble — we just need to talk to her,'" Scott said.
They allowed police to question Brooke without a lawyer present, still not knowing about the baby — something Scott now describes as the "biggest mistake" of his life.
Brooke 'Skylar' Richardson. Photo / Facebook
48 Hours raised questions about the methods investigators used when grilling the teenager, which eventually led her to "confess" to things that were later proven to be impossible.
For instance, the prosecution initially claimed she had burned the newborn's body, but expert testimony dismissed the theory.
The incredible attention the case received and the negativity the family endured saw them consider taking a deal.
"The sidewalk was lined with people sitting in lawn chairs. We had no privacy, we were followed, stalked," Kim said.
Brooke turned down a plea deal that would've seen one of the most serious charges withdrawn — something her family described as a terrible dilemma, 48 Hours revealed.
"The prosecutor told Charlie, I will take aggravated murder off if you plea to the rest of them, which still could have been 15 years," Scott told the program.
Kim added: "It was a Sunday morning and she woke up — and I can still see her sitting on the couch. And she goes, I'm not going to plea to something I didn't do. And in my heart I got sick — but it has to be her decision. End of day, she has to live with this."
Brooke's parents Scott and Kim speaking to the US program 48 Hours. Photo / Supplied
Brooke Skylar Richardson court photos - shows her at different weights before she was pregnant. Photo / Supplied
It was not until relatively soon before the birth that Brooke discovered she was pregnant.
She had begun dating a new boy — not the baby's father — and her mother took her to a doctor to get a prescription for birth control.
While there, the gynaecologist told Brooke that she was pregnant. She begged him not to tell anyone and given she had turned 18, he obliged.
Two weeks later, she gave birth and shortly after, confided in the same doctor that the girl was stillborn and she had buried her in the yard.
"She gently laid the baby down in the ground. She didn't have a casket … she buried the baby and laid a flower over top. She put a vase as a marker. You can see it from her window."
Brooke Skylar Richardson at her sentencing. Photo / AP
Kim and Scott Richardson, parents of Brooke Skylar Richardson, walk into the courthouse for their daughter's sentencing hearing. Photo / AP
Gynaecologist Dr John E. White told the court Ms Richardson's pregnancy was affected by intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR), a condition in which the foetus does not grow at a normal rate, WCPO reported.
He said the way Ms Richardson described her newborn to authorities — white, not breathing or moving and with no heartbeat — was consistent with a stillbirth.
The angel that marks the spot where the newborn baby was buried. Photo / Supplied
Brooke has now entered a treatment program for eating disorders and hopes to begin university studies next year.
"She's got a resiliency," Scott told 48 Hours.
"Some inner strength that, you know. You always hope it's there. You just got to let it come out. She's a great kid. And, hopefully, she's gonna bounce back from this. And I think she will."
