The deal would have put Skylar Richardson behind bars for 15 years.
The ex- cheerleader acquitted of murdering her newborn baby almost took a plea deal that would have put her behind bars for 15 years, according to her mother.
Prosecutors offered to drop the most serious charge of aggravated murder, which carried a sentence of life without parole, for Brooke Skylar Richardson, accused of killing her newborn and burying the remains in her family's backyard. Skylar's mother said she was interested in not having to face such a serious charge.
“She was tempted. She goes, 'As soon as I heard him say aggravated's off the table.' She says, 'I’ve been dealt so many bad hands, this is probably the best option I’m going to get. Show me where it's gone right so far,’” Kim Richardson told “48 Hours." on CBS.
But Skylar's parents told “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty that she changed her mind at the last minute.
“I can still see her sitting on the couch and she goes, 'I’m not going to plead to something I didn’t do,” Kim added.
Skylar and her parents allowed the CBS series into their home. The former cheerleader can be seen watering the garden and doing clerical work at her defense attorney's office.
Moriarty said prosecutors portrayed Skylar as heartless and selfish and helped create a hostile atmosphere before the trial.
"She knew in her heart she was innocent and she felt that the jury would see the same thing," she told Inside Edition. "The prosecutor thought that there was evidence that the bones had been charred and that just turned this case into something unheard of, ‘Oh my gosh! Baby born, buried and burned!’”
Skylar is currently in a program to treat an eating disorder and expects to attend college in January.
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