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Brooke "Skylar" Richardson is escorted out of the courtroom after the verdict
Brooke “Skylar” Richardson is escorted out of the courtroom after the verdict in her trial at Warren County Common Pleas Court Thursday, Sept. 12, 2019 in Lebanon, Ohio. The Warren County jury deliberated for four hours before acquitting Richardson of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment charges. She was found guilty of corpse abuse. (Nick Graham | The Journal-News via AP, Pool)

Young Mom Cleared of Murder Faces Time on Lesser Charge

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LEBANON, Ohio (AP) — A young Ohio woman cleared of killing her newborn baby still faces up to a year in prison for corpse abuse.

A judge plans to sentence Brooke Skylar Richardson on Friday, a day after jurors convicted her of corpse abuse but found her not guilty of more serious charges, including aggravated murder.

The 20-year-old could be sentenced to a year in prison or probation on the corpse abuse charge.

Richardson sobbed and shook Thursday when a Warren County judge read the not guilty verdicts. She could’ve faced life in prison if she had been convicted of killing the newborn.

Her defense maintained that the baby was stillborn, but prosecutors argued that she hid her unwanted pregnancy and killed the baby before burying it in her family’s backyard in 2017.