A young woman known for her spirited cheering on the University of Kentucky’s STUNT team recently faced a judge, pleading not guilty to serious charges. Laken Snelling, 21, appeared in a Lexington, Kentucky, courtroom on Tuesday, September 2, responding to accusations tied to the discovery of her deceased infant.
Snelling is charged with abusing a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and hiding the birth of a baby. The court allowed her to be released on a $100,000 bond. She’s now under home confinement with her parents in Jefferson City, Tennessee, though without an electronic monitoring device.
The Investigation Unfolds
Authorities arrested Snelling on Saturday, August 30. This followed a police call from Wednesday, August 27, when officers went to her Lexington home for a report about an unresponsive infant. LEX 18 News got a copy of the Lexington Police Department’s report, which described the shocking find.
According to an arrest citation also obtained by LEX 18 News, the baby was discovered “wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag.” When police spoke with Snelling at her home, she admitted to giving birth. The citation also noted that Snelling confessed to hiding the birth. She said she cleaned up evidence and put all the cleaning items, along with the towel-wrapped baby, into a black trash bag.
The Fayette County Coroner’s Office will figure out how the baby died after their investigation. Meanwhile, the Lexington Police Department website states that their investigation into the death is ongoing. Snelling’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 26.
From the Spotlight to the Courtroom
Snelling has been a member of the University of Kentucky’s STUNT team for the past three seasons. Her biography is still up on the STUNT team’s page. The university released a statement confirming her team membership but directed all other questions to Lexington Police.
For those unfamiliar, STUNT focuses on the technical and athletic parts of cheerleading. This includes partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps, and tumbling. Teams perform short routines at the same time on the court. The team that does the best in a round wins the point and gets to choose the next routine.
Beyond her athletic life, Snelling was studying interdisciplinary disability studies at the university, according to her Facebook page. She was also active in beauty pageants in her home state of Tennessee.