An Ohio jury has found a young woman not guilty of the most serious charges in the death of her newborn daughter, and a judge sentenced her to probation on the one count she was convicted of.
Skylar, 20, a former high school cheerleader, was accused of killing her baby in 2017 and burying the child in the family’s backyard. According to NBC News, the jury acquitted her of aggravated murder and involuntary manslaughter. A judge had earlier dismissed a charge of tampering with evidence. The jury did convict her of abuse of a corpse. USA Today reported that she cried as the verdict was read after more than four hours of deliberation.
The defense argued that the baby was stillborn and that Skylar, who was 18 at the time, was frightened and did not know what to do. Her attorneys also argued that a confession to investigators was coerced. Prosecutors argued that she did not want the baby and caused the child’s death, but they acknowledged that the cause of death could not be determined.
On Friday, September 13, 2019, she was sentenced to three years of probation on the corpse abuse charge, according to NBC News. She may later become eligible to have the record sealed. Her attorneys told reporters they did not expect her to serve more jail time.
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