A University of Kentucky student and cheerleader, 21-year-old Laken Snelling, has been arrested after allegedly hiding her newborn’s corpse in her closet.
Videos by Suggest
According to a Lexington Police Department (LPD) release, the incident occurred on Wednesday, August 27. At around 10:30 a.m., LPD officers responded to a Park Avenue residence after receiving a report of an unresponsive infant.
Upon arrival, officers found a newborn baby, who was promptly pronounced deceased.
As reported by Lex 18, citing an arrest citation, the newborn was found “inside of a closet.” The infant had been placed inside a black trash bag, wrapped in a towel. Allegedly, in a post-Miranda interview, Snelling admitted to “giving birth” to the child.
The citation added that the 21-year-old woman allegedly admitted to hiding her newborn’s birth by “cleaning any evidence.” She then placed several cleaning items inside the aforementioned black trash bag. The child, according to the citation, was also placed in the bag, wrapped in a towel.
Laken Snelling was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. She was booked into the Fayette County Detention Center. As per Lex 18, Snelling has posted her $100,000 bond and remains in “home incarceration with no ankle monitor.”
Cheerleader Arrested
WKYT reported that Snelling is a member of the Kentucky Stunt team, a cheer program, at the University of Kentucky (UK). A UK spokesperson detailed that she is a senior at the university and that she is currently enrolled in classes.
Meanwhile, the UK briefly addressed the incident via a statement shared with media outlets.
“We can confirm that she has been a member of the STUNT team for the last three seasons. All other questions should be directed to the Lexington Police,” the statement read.
The Fayette County Coroner’s Office has yet to determine the infant’s cause of death.
This incident comes less than a month after a Texas mother, Everilda Cux-Ajtzalam, was sentenced for abandoning her newborn son in a dumpster back in 2024.
The woman, as per Law & Crime, gave birth to her son, later named Gabriel, behind a food truck. It was her place of work at the time. Then, along with the placenta and umbilical cord, Cux-Ajtzalam placed Gabriel inside a trash bag and in a dumpster.
Fortunately, the baby was found, and it was revealed that Cux-Ajztalam had placed the baby in the dumpster because “she didn’t want her boyfriend to break up with her.”