Details have emerged about how former University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader Laken Snelling has been spending her time on house arrest.
Snelling, 21, has been splitting time between her parents’ homes under a joint custody provision, according to court documents obtained by People.
The former cheerleader spends her days at her mother’s home in Morristown, Tennessee, and her nights with her father at his home in Jefferson City, Tennessee, roughly 15 miles away.
Snelling was released on $100,000 bond on September 2 and ordered to live on “home incarceration with no ankle monitor” after authorities discovered a deceased baby in a trash bag in her closet. She was arrested on August 30 and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
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Snelling has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She waived her right to a preliminary hearing during a court appearance on September 26. The case will now proceed to a grand jury.
The former University of Kentucky student was supported by approximately 10 former classmates during the brief September 26 court date.
At the time of her arrest, Snelling was studying Interdisciplinary Disability Studies at Kentucky and was a three-year member of the school’s STUNT cheerleading team. A spokesperson for the school told Us Weekly on September 5 that Snelling was no longer enrolled at the university or a member of the STUNT team.
Police were called to Snelling’s home in Lexington, Kentucky on August 27, after a third party reported finding an infant’s body that was “cold to the touch” in Snelling’s room.
When she was eventually questioned by authorities, Snelling “admitted to giving birth” and to “concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside of a black trash bag, including the infant, who was wrapped in a towel.”
According to police records obtained by LEX18, the infant’s remains “appeared to be full term when discovered.”
When she was questioned by hospital staff on August 30, Snelling said she heard the baby “whimper” after it was born.
Snelling alleged she passed out after giving birth, falling on top of the infant. When she woke up, she allegedly found the baby had turned “blue and purple.”
A search of Snelling’s phone found that she had searched for “different things pertaining to pregnancy, images of her during labor, photos of her doing things ordinary pregnant women should not be doing and a concealed or hidden pregnancy.”
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Some of the photos of Snelling giving birth were deleted, according to the records, which led Lexington Police to theorize “other items could have also been deleted in an attempt to hide any evidence of the pregnancy, birth and newborn baby.”
The infant’s cause of death was ruled inconclusive, as “extensive microscopic analyses are essential to determine the cause and manner of death,” in a report by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office obtained by Us on September 4.
“I understand the community’s concern and sensitivity surrounding the death of a child,” Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said in the report. “We are conducting a thorough and methodical death investigation to ensure all facts are carefully considered.”
The investigation into the infant’s death remains ongoing, according to the Lexington Police Department.
