Laken Snelling former University of Kentucky cheerleader pleads guilty to killing newborn saying birth was unexpected. Lexington native pleads guilty to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant, months after previously pleading not guilty.
Laken Snelling, the embittered University of Kentucky cheerleader accused of killing her newborn has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the infant’s lifeless body was found in the trash in August last year.
Snelling, now 22, was initially charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant, to which she pleaded not guilty in April.
Mounting evidence contradicted Kentucky cheerleader’s claims
Snelling appearing in court, Friday morning pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
Snelling was accused of hiding the birth and putting the baby’s body in a closet.
The change in plea came with Snelling presumably hoping to secure a deal with prosecutors. The about face comes amid mounting evidence that the newborn was born alive, conflicting with the cheerleader’s previous claims that the newborn’s death was stillborn.
Lexington police responded to an off-campus home Aug. 27, 2025, after her college roommates discovered the boy in a black plastic bag stuffed in a closet, finding the child unresponsive.
The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office concluded the baby was born alive and died of asphyxia by undetermined means, after which a grand jury indicted her on first-degree manslaughter charges in March.
Kentucky cheerleader admits to ‘ending’ newborn’s life ‘instead of helping him’
In an interview with police, Snelling initially claimed the baby had fallen on the floor after she gave birth, but she didn’t think he was ‘breathing or alive.’
However, her story soon changed, claiming instead she had passed out ‘on top of the baby’ and woke up to find him ‘turning blue and purple.’
Investigators requested to search Snelling’s Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and iCloud accounts, which showed conversations between Snelling and her roommates. According to an affidavit cited by the Courier Journal, one of the roommates told investigators they all ‘had suspicions’ that Snelling was pregnant but ‘never confirmed it with her.’
In court this week, Snelling finally admitted to ‘ending’ the baby’s life ‘instead of helping him’ and placing the infant in a plastic bag, WKYT reported.
‘I was under a lot of emotional stresses, and my baby came unexpected,’ Snelling said in the courtroom Friday, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.
Prosecutors have recommended a 10-year prison term for manslaughter, and one year each for abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
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