New details have emerged in the case against former University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader Laken Snelling, who was arrested on Thursday, March 12, for manslaughter in the death of her newborn baby.
Snelling, 22, “intentionally abused the infant and thereby caused death to a person twelve (12) years of age or less, or who is physically helpless or mentally helpless,” according to an indictment obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday, March 11.
The cheerleader was booked into the Fayette County Detention Center on Thursday, where she took a mugshot wearing an orange jumpsuit.
Snelling was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant on Tuesday, March 10.
She is due back in court for her arraignment on April 10.
First-degree manslaughter is a Class B felony in Kentucky, punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison. The three other charges against Snelling carry separate sentences.
Snelling was not charged with murder because she acted under “extreme emotional disturbance,” according to the indictment.
The Herald-Leader explained that the term applies to a specialized legal condition that argues Snelling “acted without reasonable self-control.”
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird said in the indictment that the law does not require Snelling to undergo any type of psychiatric evaluation to prove the claim.
The manslaughter charge was issued on Tuesday after it was determined the infant was alive at the time Snelling gave birth and died of asphyxia, before Snelling allegedly hid the body in a trash bag in her closet.
Snelling was initially arrested on August 30 after her roommates at her Lexington, Kentucky, home found a “blood-soaked towel on the floor and a plastic bag containing evidence of childbirth.”
When she was questioned by authorities, Snelling “admitted to giving birth” and to “concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside of a black trash bag, including the infant, who was wrapped in a towel.”
Snelling said she passed out on top of the baby after giving birth, later waking up to find it “blue and purple.”
At the time of her arrest, Snelling was a student-athlete at the University of Kentucky, where she majored in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies. She was also a three-year member of the university’s STUNT cheerleading team.
A university spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly in September 2025 that Snelling was no longer enrolled at the school.
