Though Skylar Richardson didn't go to prison after her trial, she was taken to the hospital to get healthy.
Immediately after being acquitted of killing her newborn baby, Brooke Skylar Richardson was rushed to the hospital for treatment for an eating disorder.
According to her attorneys, she weighs only 89 pounds and is losing her hair. The lawyers had argued for her release following the verdict so she could get immediate care.
Richardson, who had been accused of giving birth in secret and then burying her newborn in her parents' backyard, was found not guilty of aggravated murder, involuntary manslaughter and endangering a child. She was found guilty of gross abuse of a corpse, but was ultimately credited for time served and released.
Before granting Richardson her freedom, however, Judge Donald Oda II told her he believes she is responsible for the death of her baby, called Annabelle, telling Richardson she acted with "grotesque disregard for life.”
For the first time, Richardson herself spoke out Friday after the sentencing in Ohio.
“I just wanted to say how sorry I was. I can sometimes be selfish but I think that I have become better with the knowledge that I have upset everyone and hurt so many people with what I have done and I am forever sorry. And I am so sorry. I am really, really sorry,” she said.
The mother of the baby's father, Richardson’s ex-boyfriend, gave an emotional victim impact statement.
“Not only did I lose my first grandchild, but my baby, who I would lay down my life for without a thought, lost his first child and Skylar had no intention of letting us know,” Tracy Johnson said.
A close friend, Mackenzie Haddon, said many people suspected Richardson was pregnant but said nothing.
“A lot of people had suspicions, which I think it unfortunate that no one said anything. Adults who are supposed to be there for you in high school who are supposed to know this kind of stuff, the fact that no one said anything, I blame them I really do,” she told Inside Edition.
Richardson was also sentenced to three years of probation.
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