Former University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling pleaded guilty on Friday morning to manslaughter charges in connection with the death of her newborn son, WKYT reports.

The 22-year-old admitted to killing the infant and hiding his body inside a plastic trash bag in a closet at her off-campus residence on Park Avenue.

The case began on August 27, 2025, when Lexington police officers were called to Snelling’s home after her college roommates made a discovery. Roommates had heard loud noises coming from her room for about an hour.

After Snelling left the residence claiming she felt unwell, the roommates searched the area and found a blood-soaked towel on the floor. They then located the unresponsive infant placed inside a black trash bag inside a bedroom closet.

Laken Snelling pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges for killing her newborn son. Credit: Facebook

The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and concluded that the full-term baby was born alive. Medical examiners determined that the cause of death was asphyxia by undetermined means.

Initial legal actions and statements

Snelling was initially arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. She pleaded not guilty to those initial charges in April 2025. A Fayette County grand jury later indicted her on first-degree manslaughter charges in March 2026.

During early interrogations with investigators, Snelling provided conflicting stories regarding the circumstances of the birth. She first claimed that the infant fell to the floor after delivery and that she did not believe he was alive or breathing.

She later altered her statement to police and medical staff. She claimed that she passed out on top of the infant for about 30 minutes and woke up to find him turning blue and purple. Investigators also recovered deleted phone data showing that she had searched pregnancy-related topics and taken photographs during her labor.

Laken Snelling. Credit: Fayette County Detention Center

Admission in court and sentencing recommendations

Snelling ultimately changed her plea during her court appearance, admitting to ending the baby's life instead of helping him. She acknowledged putting the newborn into the plastic bag where her roommates eventually discovered him. Court records show she copped to ending the life of her child "instead of helping him."

Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors recommended a 10-year prison sentence for the manslaughter charge. They also requested additional one-year terms for each of the secondary charges: abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.

Featured image credit: Facebook

A court decision has been made in the case of former University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling, after her newborn son was found dead inside her closet.

The case dates back to August 2025, when investigators say they found a baby boy wrapped in a blood-soaked towel and placed inside a trash bag at her dorm at the University of Kentucky.

The discovery led to Snelling’s arrest and a series of initial charges.

Laken Snelling has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges. Credit: Laken Snelling / Facebook

Snelling was first charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant, to which she pleaded not guilty in September.

Months later, in March 2026, prosecutors escalated the case by indicting her on first-degree manslaughter charges.

They have claimed that she suffocated the newborn in a panic after secretly giving birth.

During her latest court appearance on Friday (April 10), Snelling once again pleaded not guilty to the additional charge.

The legal proceedings are now moving forward, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 14 and a status hearing set for June 12.

Laken Snelling, a 21-year-old woman arrested over the death of an infant in Lexington, Kentucky. Credit: Fayette County Detention Center

Roommates Alerted Police After Discovering Blood In the Bedroom

The former cheerleader's roommates, who’d suspected she was hiding being pregnant, told police they’d heard unusual noises coming from her room throughout the early hours of the morning.

They claimed that Snelling had cleaned up the blood after giving birth, showered, and left the house to go to McDonald’s, skipping her morning classes and a visit to the school clinic.

While she was gone, her roommates entered her bedroom and discovered the newborn baby inside a black plastic trash bag in a closet. They then called 911 and told the operator that the baby was "cold to the touch".

Police were waiting for Snelling when she returned home, and she initially told them that the baby fell on the floor after she gave birth and didn’t think he was "breathing or alive." She also claimed that she passed out on top of the baby and woke up to find "the baby turning blue and purple."

In addition to this, court documents state that Snelling had wrapped the baby up "like a burrito and laid next to it" because it "gave her a little comfort in the moment," per Court TV.

However, an investigation later revealed that she had told medical staff that the newborn had made a "whimper" after he was born and showed "a little bit of fetal movement," Kentucky Kernel reported.

She also allegedly took several photos while in labor but had deleted them "in an attempt to hide the birth," police said, and investigators believe other images might have been successfully destroyed before she was arrested.

Featured image credit: Fayette County Detention Center

A new update has been shared in the case of former University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling, after her newborn son was found dead inside her closet in August last year.

The 21-year-old was accused of hiding the body of her baby, wrapped in a towel inside a trash bag, inside her closet.

The former cheerleader was arrested by authorities in Lexington, Kentucky, after the grim discovery was made, and faced charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.

According to reports from the New York Post, Snelling has been indicted on first-degree manslaughter by a Fayette County grand jury on Tuesday, after the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office determined the baby was born alive.

It found that the baby boy’s cause of death was asphyxia by undetermined means, WKYT reports.

Laken Snelling, a 21-year-old woman arrested over the death of an infant in Lexington, Kentucky. Credit: Fayette County Detention Center

Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird told the outlet: “They were given the information about homicide, the four levels of homicide and then deliberated and decided that manslaughter first degree was the charge that should come out of the grand jury.”

Snelling had pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant, and had been on house arrest at her family home in Tennessee.

After her arrest, Snelling withdrew from the University of Kentucky and is no longer a member of the STUNT cheerleading team.

She now faces up to 20 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter, and a further 11 years for the remaining charges if found guilty.

According to reports, the 21-year-old gave birth to the baby boy at around 4AM on August 27 in her off-campus house in Lexington.

Her roommates, who’d suspected Snelling was hiding being pregnant, told police they’d heard loud, unusual noises coming from her room throughout the early hours of the morning.

They claimed that Snelling had cleaned up the blood after giving birth, showered, and left the house to go to McDonald’s, skipping her morning classes and a visit to the school clinic.

While she was gone, her roommates entered her bedroom and discovered a “blood-soaked towel on the floor and a plastic bag containing evidence of childbirth.”

Snelling is accused of hiding the pregnancy and concealing her baby boy's body. Credit: Laken Snelling / Facebook

They called 911 after they found the newborn baby inside a black plastic trash bag in a closet, telling the operator that the baby was “cold to the touch”.

Police were waiting for Snelling when she returned home, and she initially told them that the baby fell on the floor after she gave birth and didn’t think he was “breathing or alive”.

She claimed that she passed out “on top of the baby” and woke up to find “the baby turning blue and purple.”

Court documents state that Snelling said she had wrapped the baby up “like a burrito and laid next to it” because it “gave her a little comfort in the moment.”

However an investigation later revealed that she had told medical staff that the newborn had made a “whimper” after he was born and showed “a little bit of fetal movement.”

She also allegedly took several photos while in labor but had deleted them “in an attempt to hide the birth,” police said, and investigators believe other images might have been successfully destroyed before she was arrested.

Featured image credit: Fayette County Detention Center

Disturbing new details have emerged following the tragic discovery of a University of Kentucky cheerleader's deceased newborn baby.

As previously reported, Laken Snelling, 21, was arrested just days after her lifeless baby boy was found discarded in a trash bag inside a closet at her Lexington property on August 27.

According to a 911 call released by the Lexington Herald-Leader, the caller described the baby as “cold to the touch” when discovered, a detail that further suggests the infant had been dead for some time before being found.

The emergency call came in at 10:34AM, prompting responders to rush to the property. The police arrived just seven minutes later, CBS affiliate WKYT-TV reported.

At the time of the discovery, Snelling was not at the property, and police found her later that morning at 11AM.

An autopsy was conducted, but the cause of death remains inconclusive, with additional tests scheduled for further investigation. The circumstances surrounding the baby’s death continue to raise questions.

Snelling, who had admitted to giving birth and cleaning up after the event, was booked in the Fayette County Detention Center on August 31 - four days after the discovery.

She has been charged with concealing the birth of a child, and authorities confirmed that she confessed to placing cleaning supplies inside the trash bag along with her deceased baby.

During her first court appearance on September 2, she appeared somber and downcast. She was placed under house arrest, and the legal proceedings are set to continue.

The arrest has raised several unanswered questions, particularly regarding the identity of the baby’s father.

Her ex-boyfriend, 21-year-old Izaiah Hall, a quarterback at Cumberland University, was asked to provide a DNA sample to confirm if he is the father. Hall’s father, Justin Smith, said: "Lexington police had him come down to the station to give a sample. I don’t know anything on this, and we don’t know if Izaiah is the father or not," per Sky News Australia.

Additionally, Snelling’s most recent boyfriend, Conner Jordan, a former college basketball player, was linked to her prior to her arrest. Jordan has since deleted all his social media accounts.

Snelling had been a member of the University of Kentucky’s competitive cheer team for three seasons and was featured in clips from the National Championship held in Nashville, Tennessee, in April.

In a video that has surfaced online, she can be seen performing stunts, being hoisted by teammates, and flipping other members of the team.

However, just months after this footage was posted and removed from FloCheer’s YouTube page, Snelling would be arrested for a tragic reason.

Snelling is scheduled to return to court for her next hearing on September 26, as the investigation into her baby’s death continues.

Featured image credit: Facebook

A haunting final post from a University of Kentucky cheerleader who hid a "dead newborn in a trash bag in a closet" has surfaced online.

Laken Snelling, 21, was apprehended by police after allegedly concealing the body of her baby in a closet, wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag.

The grim discovery by local authorities in Lexington, Kentucky, where Snelling faces charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.

According to the Daily Mail, Lexington police were called to Snelling’s home on the 400 block of Park Avenue following reports of an unresponsive infant on Wednesday (August 27).

Upon arriving at the scene, officers discovered the newborn's body and pronounced the infant dead at around 10:30AM.

The police report indicates that the student confessed to giving birth and then attempting to hide the evidence.

After being read her Miranda rights, Snelling allegedly admitted that she had cleaned up the area, placing all cleaning supplies, including the infant, into the black trash bag.

The cause of death has not been determined, with an autopsy pending by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.

The tragic case has shocked many, especially after Snelling’s social media activity raised disturbing contradictions.

The university student shared a TikTok video just months before the incident, where she listed “having a baby” as one of her life goals, alongside getting married and owning a home.

The post, which resurfaced after her arrest, has sparked an outpouring of comments from users, with many mentioning Kentucky’s strict abortion laws, which took effect in 2022, and only allow abortion in cases where the pregnant person’s life is at "substantial risk" or to prevent serious, permanent harm to vital organs.

The ban does not include exceptions for rape or incest, which has led to heightened debate and scrutiny over reproductive rights in the state.

However, other users pointed out that the state offers places for unwanted newborns to be dropped off safely.

Snelling, originally from White Pine, Tennessee, had been a member of the University of Kentucky’s competitive cheer stunt team for the past three seasons.

"We can confirm that she has been a member of the STUNT team for the last three seasons," the university said in a statement. "All other questions should be directed to the Lexington Police."

As of Monday (September 1), she is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center and is set to make a preliminary court appearance following her arrest, though further details on her bond or custody status have not been released.

The charges she faces are classified as Class D felonies in Kentucky, carrying potential prison sentences of one to five years and fines of up to $10,000.

The Lexington Police Department’s Special Victims Section continues to investigate the case, and the community remains in shock over the tragic discovery.

Featured image credit: Fayette County Detention Center