A 21-year-old former University of Kentucky cheerleader has been arrested after allegedly giving birth in secret, leaving her newborn to die in her bedroom closet, and then going to get McDonald’s.
Laken Ashlee Snelling was taken into custody on August 31 after police discovered her baby boy’s body wrapped in a towel and placed inside a garbage bag in her off-campus Lexington home. According to newly released court documents, Snelling gave birth around 4 a.m. on August 27.
The arrest affidavit states she initially told her roommates the noises they heard were from her passing out due to not eating. Hours later, she allegedly ditched a scheduled morning class, ordered food on the McDonald’s app, and picked it up before returning home.
Her roommates, who suspected she had been hiding a pregnancy, went into her room while she was gone and found a blood-soaked towel and signs of childbirth. When confronted, Snelling later told police she had passed out on top of the newborn, waking to see him turning blue. She claimed she thought the baby was dead, wrapped him in a towel, and later placed him and the placenta inside a bag.
Investigators say she admitted at the hospital that the baby made a “whimper” and may still have been alive. Police also found photos on her phone of her during labor and images showing she concealed her pregnancy.
Snelling has been charged with abuse of a corpse. She has since been released on bond under house arrest and is no longer enrolled at the University of Kentucky.
The case echoes previous high-profile incidents of concealed pregnancies leading to newborn deaths, raising renewed questions about campus resources and support for young mothers.
