Prosecutor: Woman killed her baby to keep her ‘perfect life’

LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — A prosecutor says a young Ohio woman killed and buried her newborn daughter because she wanted to keep her “perfect life.”

Warren County assistant prosecutor Julie Kraft told jurors in closing arguments Thursday that Brooke Skylar Richardson’s baby wasn’t part of the high school cheerleader’s plans and was unwanted.

A jury of seven women and five men is expected to begin deliberations after closing arguments from both sides.

Richardson’s attorneys say her baby was stillborn and that she was sad and scared afterward.

She was 18 when she secretly gave birth in 2017, then buried the infant in her family’s backyard in southwest Ohio. Richardson later told a doctor, who alerted police.

Richardson, now 20, could face life in prison if she is convicted of aggravated murder.