A University of Kentucky cheerleader charged with concealing the birth of her newborn son told medical staff she believed her baby was alive at the time of delivery, according to court documents.
Laken Snelling, 21, was arrested on August 31 after police discovered the body of a newborn boy inside a trash bag in her bedroom closet.
Snelling allegedly admitted she gave birth in secret and tried to hide both the baby and related evidence. She now faces charges including abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
The former cheerleader appeared in court on Friday, waiving her right to a preliminary hearing during a brief 35-second appearance.
Court documents reveal that when Snelling was transported to UK Hospital the day after giving birth, she told staff at the University of Kentucky Labor and Delivery unit that her baby had shown “a little bit of fetal movement,” made a “whimper,” and that she “guessed” he was alive at birth.
The infant appeared full term, according to case records.
However, Snelling’s initial account to police contradicts this. She told officers she gave birth at 4 a.m. and did not believe the baby was alive. She said she later passed out and fell on top of him. When she regained consciousness, she noticed the baby had turned blue and purple and believed he was dead.
She told police she wrapped the baby and laid next to him on the floor, saying it “gave her comfort” at the time. According to her arrest citation, the newborn was found wrapped in a towel, inside a garbage bag, and hidden in her Lexington residence closet — all of which she admitted to police.
After the birth, Snelling reportedly went to campus but did not attend class. She later visited the university’s student clinic but never entered the facility, then returned home, where police detained her.
Affidavits filed on September 4 and 8 show that police executed a search warrant on Snelling’s phone and requested access to her Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and a shared iCloud account with her mother. The search revealed internet activity related to pregnancy, photos of Snelling in labor, and images showing her engaging in activities typically avoided during pregnancy. Investigators also found evidence suggesting she tried to conceal the pregnancy.
Photos taken during labor were deleted, allegedly “to hide the birth,” leading police to believe more content may have been erased to cover up the pregnancy, delivery, and presence of the newborn.
Footage from April shows Snelling performing with UK’s STUNT team with what appeared to be a pregnant bump. She also posted images in June with her then-boyfriend, former college basketball star Connor Jordan, 24, where he held her stomach, showing a visible bump. Other social media posts in recent months also suggested she was pregnant.
Snelling remains out on bond under home incarceration, ordered to live with her parents in Tennessee, while awaiting a grand jury decision on whether she will be formally indicted.
Questions remain in the case, including how the child died, as Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said a preliminary autopsy on the baby was inconclusive. It is also unclear whether Snelling, who has since dropped out of school, told anyone she was pregnant.
Those who knew the former cheerleader told the Daily Mail she was an “appearance-obsessed serial bully” at school. She is accused of once trying to run down a fellow student with a Jeep and being so mean that others transferred schools to avoid her.
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