Former University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling pleaded guilty Friday morning to manslaughter charges for killing her newborn son and stuffing his lifeless body in a trash bag.
Snelling, now 22, was initially charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant, to which she pleaded not guilty last April.
Lexington police responded to an off-campus home Aug. 27, 2025, after her horrified college roommates discovered the boy in a black plastic bag stuffed in a closet, finding the child unresponsive.
The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the baby was born alive and died of asphyxia by undetermined means, after which a grand jury indicted her on first-degree manslaughter charges in March.
In an interview with police, Snelling initially claimed the baby had fallen on the floor after she gave birth, but she didn’t think he was “breathing or alive.”
However, her story soon changed, claiming instead she had passed out “on top of the baby” and woke up to find him “turning blue and purple.”
In court this week, Snelling finally admitted to “ending” the baby’s life “instead of helping him” and copped to putting the infant in a plastic bag, WKYT reported.
Prosecutors have recommended a 10-year prison term for manslaughter, and one year each for abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
