UPDATE: Judge denies 3 defense motions in Carlisle buried baby case

A Warren County Common Pleas judge has denied three pivotal motions filed by the defense in the case of a Carlisle woman accused of killing her newborn and burying her in her parents' backyard in 2017.

Two weeks before Brooke Skylar Richardson’s trial is scheduled to begin, Judge Donald Oda II denied motions filed by Richardson's attorneys, Charles H. and Charles M. Rittgers and Neal Schuett, for the jury to view the alleged crime scene, for the indictment to be dismissed and to move the trial out of Warren County.

Richardson, now 20, is charged with aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Her trial, set to last three weeks, is scheduled to begin Sept. 3.

MOST RECENT COVERAGE

• Aug. 17: Defense asks to move Carlisle buried baby trial out of Warren County

• Aug. 15: Prosecution: Motion to dismiss Carlisle buried baby case charges ‘groundless’

• Aug. 14: Defense team wants diary, lighter fluid excluded in Carlisle buried baby trial

• Aug. 9: Defense team again asks for jury to visit house in Carlisle buried baby trial

• Aug. 2: In emails, witness in Carlisle buried baby case talks about change in opinion

INITIAL REPORT

The final pre-trial hearing for a Carlisle woman accused of killing and burying her baby in her parents’ backyard in 2017 is set for this morning in Warren County Common Pleas Court.

Brooke Skylar Richardson, now 20, is charged with aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. He trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 3.

The case has drawn wide attention for more than two years, and there has been a flurry of activity in recent weeks. That has included motions by the defense asking that the indictment be dismissed, that the jury see the home, that lighter fluid and a diary collected from the house be excluded at trial and that the trial be moved out of Warren County.

We’ll continue to update this story with news from this morning’s hearing.

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