Roommates of Laken Snelling, a cheerleader from the University of Kentucky, reported hearing loud noises coming from her bedroom around the time she gave birth. They took the opportunity to enter her room when she stepped out to grab McDonald’s, only to discover the lifeless newborn hidden in her closet.
The roommates had been suspicious that Snelling was concealing a pregnancy. They became aware of the situation when the 21-year-old gave birth to a baby boy around 4 a.m. on August 27 in her off-campus residence in Lexington, according to legal documents acquired by Lex18.
Later that day, Snelling allegedly told her roommates that the noises were the result of her fainting due to a common illness.
After her birthing incident, she left to get McDonald’s, skipping her 9:30 a.m. class as per the court documents.
While Snelling was out, her roommates searched her bedroom and discovered a “blood-soaked towel” on the floor along with a plastic bag containing delivery evidence, as detailed in the affidavit.
They proceeded to locate the newborn wrapped in a black plastic bag inside the closet, subsequently calling 911 and informing the dispatcher that the infant felt “cold to the touch.”
Upon returning home, Snelling found police already present, awaiting her arrival.
The shocking details emerged as Snelling entered a not guilty plea against accusations of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
She initially claimed to the authorities that the baby had fallen on the floor after her delivery, asserting she believed he was “not breathing or alive,” according to the affidavit.
Later, she alleged that she had passed out “on top of the baby” and woke to see “the baby turning blue and purple.”
Snelling eventually confessed to having wrapped “the baby up like a burrito and lay next to it” for comfort, according to court documentation.
Before cleaning up the blood in her room, she hid her son in the closet, authorities reported.
Investigations have uncovered that she had told medical professionals that the newborn had exhibited “a little bit of fetal movement” and made a “whimper” after birth, the legal documents reveal.
During labor, she apparently took several photos but deleted them “to conceal the birth,” according to police statements.
Following her arrest, Snelling withdrew from the University of Kentucky and is no longer a participant on the STUNT team.
