Former University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader Laken Snelling has been hit with new restrictions while living under house arrest after allegedly hiding her newborn baby’s body in a closet.
Snelling, 21, has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor and was placed on home confinement, according to documents obtained by LEX18.
The former cheerleader was ordered to permanently stay at her father’s home in Tennessee.
Since posting a $100,000 bond on September 2, Snelling had been splitting time between her parents’ homes under a joint custody provision.
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Snelling must also contact Pretrial Services within seven days “to facilitate the commencement of electronic monitoring,” according to People. It is unclear why the judge suddenly instituted the new guidelines.
Snelling is currently awaiting a grand jury trial in the death of her newborn on August 27.
She was officially arrested on August 30 and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
Snelling has pleaded not guilty to all charges. She waived her right to a preliminary trial during a court appearance on September 26.
The cheerleader allegedly gave birth to the baby and then hid the body in a trash bag in the closet of her Lexington, Kentucky home.
After a third party allegedly found a “blood-soaked towel on the floor and a plastic bag containing evidence of childbirth” in Snelling’s room, they called the police.
When Snelling was eventually interviewed by authorities, she “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.”
Snelling alleged she passed out on top of the baby after giving birth, waking up to find it “blue and purple.” She believed the baby was alive at the time of birth, saying she heard a “whimper.”
According to police records, the infant’s remains “appeared to be full term when discovered.”
The infant’s death was ruled inconclusive and “extensive microscopic analyses are essential to determine the cause and manner of death,” according to a report from the Fayette County Coroner’s Office obtained by Us Weekly 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.”
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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According to records, some of the photos in Snelling’s phone had attempted to be deleted, leading 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 investigation into the infant’s death remains ongoing, according to the Lexington Police Department.
At the time of her arrest, Snelling was majoring in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies at the University of Kentucky and was a three-year member of the school’s STUNT competitive cheerleading team.
A spokesperson for the University of Kentucky told Us on September 5 that Snelling “is no longer a student at the university and, as a result, is no longer a member of the STUNT team.”
