4 local infant homicide cases

The arrest of Carlisle’s Brooke Skylar Richardson after investigators found remains of an infant buried in the back yard of her Eagle Ridge Drive residence may remind others of similar infanticide cases in the area.

MORE: Warren County baby burial case: 7 things we know now

Richardson, 18, is charged with reckless homicide, a third-degree felony, and is free on bond. She is awaiting a preliminary hearing next week in Franklin Municipal Court.

Richardson’s baby was born alive, according to Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell.

Here are four other cases of infanticide in the area:

ASUNCION “SUZIE” AVILA-VILLA

In April 2011, Asuncion “Suzie” Avila-Villa, 27, of Hamilton, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse, engaging in sex with a teenager, and other felonies.

MORE: Hamilton mother pleads guilty in infant’s death

According to the facts of the case, Avila-Villa killed her infant son and threw his body in the trash behind her Shuler Avenue residence to cover up the crime. She first reported to police that the baby had been kidnapped.

Prosecutors have said she killed the infant to escape punishment for having sex with the underage male who fathered the child.

Avila-Villa was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She avoided a trial that could have ended with the death penalty if convicted.

CARIN MADDEN

In 2000, 20-year-old Carin Madden pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and gross abuse of a corpse for the death of her newborn daughter who was found by a garbage collector on Jacksonburg Road in Wayne Twp.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty against Madden, but withdrew the specification when she entered a guilty plea.

Defense attorneys maintained Madden, who lived with her parents, blocked out that she was pregnant and did not tell her parents.

On Aug. 20, 1999, when Madden awoke with cramps, she sat on the toilet and realized she was about to give birth, according to court records.

She gave birth in the bathroom, put the baby in a garbage bag and tied the strings shut. Eventually, Madden placed the garbage bag containing the baby in a garbage can outside for pickup.

On Aug 28, the infant was discovered by a Rumpke worker in the back of a garbage truck.

It was not the first time Madden had kept a pregnancy a secret. When she was 15, Madden delivered a baby that was put up for adoption. Her family said she was scarred by that experience.

Madden is serving 20 years to life in prison. Her first parole hearing is set for July 2019.

DEBORAH MACKEY

In December 1998, Deborah Mackey gave birth to a baby girl at her workplace in Franklin and then placed the infant in a bathroom trash can.

A cleaning woman found the infant, alive, shortly after Mackey went home claiming to be sick, according to court and Journal-News records.

Mackey, 39, of Liberty Twp., was convicted of attempted murder and child endangering after a bench trial in Warren County Common Pleas Court. She was sentenced to six years in prison.

The baby, named Holly Ann, suffered from medical issues not related to the birth and died five months later.

REBECCA HOPFER

Rebecca Hopfer, of Centerville, was 17 years old in 1994 when she delivered a baby girl at her home, wrapped the infant in towels and then placed it in a plastic bag and threw it in the trash.

The high school senior was convicted a year later of murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. But nine years later, then-Gov. Bob Taft commuted her sentence, and the parole board approved her early release.

MORE: Ohio cheerleader buried baby case reminder of Centerville incident 

The teen maintained that her child was stillborn.

About the Author