FRANKLIN, Ohio – The attorney for an 18-year-old Ohio woman accused of burying an infant alive outside her family’s home said the teen is a “very good person” who has worked with disabled children.

Brooke Skylar Richardson pleaded not guilty through her attorney to a reckless homicide charge on Friday during a brief municipal court hearing in the southwest Ohio city of Franklin. A judge continued her $15,000 bond.

Warren County Prosecutor David Fornshell said Friday the charge was based on evidence that the infant was “born alive and was not a stillborn baby.” A criminal complaint said the infant died on May 7.

The remains were found July 14 in Carlisle, about 40 miles (64 kilometres) north of Cincinnati. Investigators are waiting on a final report from the county coroner’s office about how the infant died.

The Dayton Daily News has reported that authorities found the remains after receiving a tip from a doctor’s office.

Attorney Charles Rittgers told reporters after Friday’s hearing that Richardson, a college-bound high school cheerleader, is “by all means a very good person.”

Rittgers declined to comment further.