Former Kentucky Cheerleader Learns Her Fate For Killing Newborn, Hiding Body In Closet

A former University of Kentucky cheerleader was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday after admitting she killed her newborn son and hid his body in a trash bag in her closet.

Laken Snelling, 22, pleaded guilty in Fayette Circuit Court on August 21 to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. The judge imposed 10 years for manslaughter and one year for each remaining charge, with the sentences running concurrently, according to WKYT. 

“I was under a lot of emotional stress and my baby came unexpectedly,” Snelling said during the plea hearing. “And instead of helping him, I ended his life and afterwards I cleaned up and didn’t tell anyone.”

Former Kentucky cheerleader has pleaded guilty to killing her newborn baby and stuffing him in a trash bag in her closet, claims she was under “emotional stress.”

22-year-old Laken Snelling has admitted to killing her newborn baby by “depriving him of oxygen.”

“I was under a lot of emotional stress and my baby came unexpectedly… And instead of helping him I ended his life and afterwards I cleaned up and didn’t tell anyone,” she said in court.

She has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.

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Snelling’s roommates discovered the baby in August 2025 after questioning her account of noises they had heard from her room, LEX18 reported, citing court records. They said they heard loud noises around 4 a.m. Later that morning, Snelling said she had passed out,  had not been feeling well, and planned to seek medical attention.

The roommates found the baby wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag in her closet. Police were called, and Snelling was arrested four days later, according to WKYT.

Her roommates also told the 911 operator that they found a “blood-soaked towel on the floor and a plastic bag containing evidence of childbirth.”

The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the infant was born alive and died from asphyxia by undetermined means. A Fayette County grand jury subsequently indicted Snelling on a first-degree manslaughter charge, LEX19 reported.

Snelling initially pleaded not guilty earlier this year, but later changed her plea and admitted killing her son by depriving him of oxygen.

At Friday’s sentencing, relatives mourned the future they had hoped to share with the baby, McCoy Cade Hall, the New York Post reported.

One female relative said, “As a grandparent, you imagine the memories you’ll make with your grandchildren.” She said she was looking forward to “first words, kisses, and all the little moments that become lifelong memories.”

“You look forward to watching them grow and seeing the person they become,” she added. “For Cade, those possibilities were taken away before he ever had the chance to experience them.”

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