A young woman who was a former University of Kentucky cheerleader is facing serious charges after her flatmates discovered her newborn baby deceased in her bedroom. Laken Snelling, aged 21, is accused of disturbing a corpse, tampering with evidence, and hiding the birth of an infant. Court documents claim that she gave birth to a baby boy alone in the early hours of August 27th.
Snelling allegedly told authorities that she passed out after giving birth and awoke to find the baby in distress. Feeling the baby was dead, she wrapped him up and placed him on the floor next to her. She then fell back asleep, waking up hours later to dispose of the baby in a towel and the placenta in a bin bag hidden in her wardrobe.
Upon returning home, her flatmates found evidence of childbirth and called emergency services. Snelling was subsequently arrested. Investigators later discovered that Snelling had made online searches related to pregnancy and deleted labor-related images from her phone.
At the University of Kentucky Labour and Delivery Unit, Snelling reportedly mentioned hearing the baby make a sound and believed the baby was alive. However, authorities found the baby deceased in the wardrobe, appearing to be full-term. Snelling pleaded not guilty to the charges but waived her right to a preliminary hearing in court.
She is currently out on bail but has been ordered to remain under house arrest.
