Kentucky Cheerleader Who Allegedly Let Newborn Suffocate Hit With Charges

Laken Snelling, the former University of Kentucky cheerleader who allegedly allowed her newborn baby to suffocate, was charged with first-degree manslaughter on March 10.

The 22-year-old has now been indicted by a grand jury in Fayette County with the manslaughter charge, and also with concealing the birth of an infant and tampering with physical evidence, per a release from the Lexington Police Department.

The charges stem from an incident on Aug. 27, 2025, where officers were “dispatched for an unresponsive infant,” pronouncing the child dead at the scene.

Snelling allegedly hid her dead baby by wrapping him in a towel, placing him inside a black trash bag, and hiding the bag in the closet, per a report from NBC News.

🚨 JUST IN: Arrest warrant issued for former University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling after grand jury indicted her for FIRST-DEGREE MANSLAUGHTER in newborn’s death.

Autopsy: Baby was born ALIVE, died from asphyxia (undetermined means). Body found wrapped in towel,… pic.twitter.com/Q9F3rEg5EU

— 🇺🇸 America First Feed (@America1stFeed) March 11, 2026

Medical examiners determined that the baby was “born alive and his cause of death to be asphyxia by undetermined means.”

Snelling was previously arrested on the concealing the birth of an infant and tampering with physical evidence charges, but the grand jury more recently added the first-degree manslaughter charge.

In Kentucky, first-degree manslaughter is a Class B felony, which can be punished by 10 to 20 years in prison.

After her arrest in August, she was released on a $100,000 bond.

She has spent the last several months in house arrest at her parents’ property in Jefferson City, Tennessee.

Laken Snelling’s Roommates Allegedly Heard Loud Noises at 4 a.m. — Then Found ‘Evidence of Childbirth’ https://t.co/TEg00JsG1i

— People (@people) September 30, 2025

A copy of the indictment against Snelling obtained by Us Weekly alleged that she “intentionally abused the infant and thereby caused death to a person twelve (12) years of age or less, or who is physically helpless or mentally helpless.”

The indictment said she was not charged with murder because she was under “extreme emotional disturbance.”

The former cheerleader had allegedly tried concealing evidence of her giving birth from her roommates.

But they found a “blood-soaked towel on the floor and a plastic bag containing evidence of childbirth” on Aug. 30, per the indictment.

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