Former University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling detailed her journey back from an ACL injury in the months before police found her newborn baby’s body hidden in the closet of her Lexington, Kentucky, home.
“Crawling back to you 
,” wrote Snelling, 21, over a compilation of her road back from surgery, which she posted via TikTok in January.
Snelling captioned the post “A long time coming #aclrecovery.”
The post begins with a photo of her right leg, bandaged from her ACL surgery. It then transitions to a video of her walking on crutches and eventually practicing with the team again.
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A University of Kentucky spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on Friday, September 5, that Snelling is no longer enrolled at the university and is therefore no longer a member of the STUNT cheerleading team.
Snelling has pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant stemming from her August 30 arrest. Authorities arrived at her home three days earlier after receiving a report of an unresponsive infant.
Police found the baby “wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag,” according to an arrest citation obtained by LEX 18 News. Snelling reportedly admitted both to giving birth to the baby and “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.”
The Fayette County Coroner’s office was unable to determine a cause of death after conducting an autopsy.
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“I understand the community’s concern and sensitivity surrounding the death of a child,” Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said in a report obtained by Us Weekly. “We are conducting a thorough and methodical death investigation to ensure all facts are carefully considered.”
The lack of answers isn’t unusual in a situation like this. Dr. Marcello DiStasio, a professor of pathology at Yale School of Medicine who is not involved in the coroner’s investigation, told NBC News that the results were “absolutely routine.”
“It’s more likely that they did see nothing and they suspect something that would not show a grossly visible wound or pathology, that’s more likely,” DiStasio said.
Snelling was released on $100,000 bond and is now living with her parents in Tennessee on home incarceration without an ankle monitor. Her preliminary hearing is set for September 26.
