Former Kentucky Cheerleader Arrested After Newborn Found Dead in Off-Campus Closet
Laken Snelling was not at the home when an unidentified caller discovered the infant; preliminary autopsy is inconclusive
A former University of Kentucky cheerleader was arrested after authorities say the body of a newborn was found inside a closet of her off-campus home, and investigators said she was not at the residence when the discovery was made.
Lexington police said they received a call at 10:35 a.m. on Aug. 27 from an unidentified individual who reported finding a dead body inside a closet and that the infant was "cold to the touch." Responders pronounced the baby dead at the scene. Police said that when emergency personnel arrived on the scene, the 21-year-old suspect, identified as Laken Snelling, was not at the house but was located about five minutes away shortly thereafter and taken to police headquarters.
Police documents released to local media state that Snelling admitted to giving birth and to concealing the birth by cleaning items used and placing them, including the wrapped infant, inside a black trash bag. The police report said the infant had been wrapped in towels and placed inside a black trash bag, a treatment of the body that the report said "would outrage ordinary family sensibilities." Snelling pleaded not guilty at her first court appearance to counts of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said a preliminary autopsy was inconclusive, and that the office will conduct "extensive microscopic analyses" to determine the cause of death. Police and the coroner did not immediately release further details about the infant's death.
Police records indicate that Snelling asked to be "checked out" medically after being taken to police headquarters, and an emergency care unit was dispatched there. Lexington police said Snelling was placed under arrest at 4:58 p.m. on Aug. 30. She was released on a $100,000 bond and is serving home incarceration at her parents' residence in Jefferson City, Tennessee. Court records show she is next scheduled to appear in Fayette County court on Sept. 26.
It remains unclear whether Snelling informed family members, friends or university officials that she was pregnant. Images and video shared on social media and reported by news outlets include footage from April in which school team performances show what appears to be a pregnancy bump, and photos posted in June in which a man identified in social media posts as former college basketball player Connor Jordan is shown holding Snelling's stomach.
Snelling has since left the university, according to local reports. Police said one former university teammate, Izaiah Hall, has submitted to a DNA test to determine whether he is the father of the infant; Hall previously dated Snelling, and later dated other students, local media reported.
People who told the Daily Mail they knew Snelling in high school described her as having a history of aggressive behavior. One former classmate, Sydney Kite, told the outlet she had been told of incidents in which Snelling allegedly bullied classmates. Another social media user recounted similar claims. Those accounts have not been corroborated by law enforcement, and Snelling has not been convicted of wrongdoing beyond the charges she faces.
The Lexington Police Department and the Fayette County coroner's office declined to provide additional comment Thursday. The investigation remains active as forensic testing continues to determine the infant's cause of death and as prosecutors prepare the case for court.