Former College Cheerleader Laken Snelling Indicted on Manslaughter Charge in Death of Baby Boy

Laken Snelling has been indicted in connection with the death of her newborn baby.

The former University of Kentucky stunt team member, 21, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. A grand jury added the manslaughter charge while the remaining three charges were given when Snelling was arrested in August 2025.

“They were given the information about homicide, the four levels of homicide and then deliberated and decided that manslaughter first degree was the charge that should come out of the grand jury,” Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird said in a statement to WKYT on Tuesday, March 10.

Baird added that Snelling is likely to appear in court again at some point in the next few weeks.

On August 20, 2025, Lexington police responded to a call regarding an unresponsive infant. The baby boy was pronounced dead at the scene and court records stated that the child was discovered wrapped in a towel inside a trash bag in a closet.

Four days later, Snelling was arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence, concealing the birth of an infant and abuse of a corpse. The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the infant was born alive and stated the cause of death being asphyxiation by undetermined means, per WKYT.

At the time of the child’s death, Snelling was enrolled at the University of Kentucky but she has since withdrawn. Her case was sent to grand jury in September 2025, and she has remained on house arrest at her home in Tennessee since then.