CARLISLE, Ohio -- A woman was charged with reckless homicide after the discovery of skeletal infant remains buried behind a Carlisle house, according to the Warren County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies arrested Brooke "Skyler" Richardson, 18, Thursday night and taken to the Warren County Jail. She is the mother, the coroner’s office told WCPO.
Authorities said a doctor's July 14 call to police alerted them to the presence of human remains behind the Eagle Ridge Drive home, which was ringed in yellow tape and thronged by local authorities, media and neighbors for the better part of the day.
Several police agencies are at this home on Eagle Ridge Drive. Investigators are digging the backyard @WCPO pic.twitter.com/5yqhk1BK2F
— Ashley Zilka (@ashleyzilka) July 14, 2017
When those remains were first exhumed and carried from the site, Lieutenant John Faine identified them as having belonged to a stillborn baby interred around four months prior.
Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said Friday that evidence shows the infant was born alive and was not a stillborn baby.
Yellow tape and shovels reappeared around the house Thursday before the announcement of Richardson's arrest.
If convicted, Richardson could face 1-5 years in prison for the reckless homicide charge, according to Judge Rupert Ruppert. She was released on a $15,000 bond after a hearing in Franklin Municipal Court Friday.
Richardson graduated from Carlisle High School in the spring. She was on the National Honor Society, a cheerleader and a member of the track team and homecoming court. Her attorney, Charles Rittger, said she has plans to attend college soon.
"She's taking it in a way you'd expect," Rittger said regarding the charge. "It's a shock to her and it's a tragic situation."
Jeff Oaks, a neighbor who watched the initial scene unfold, said Eagle Ridge Drive was a "jewel" of Carlisle and he had been stunned to watch one of its homes become a crime scene.
"You see the guy on TV that's interviewed by somebody, and they say, 'Oh, it never happens in my town,'" he said. "Well, hey, that's this. This moment."
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 1.
