A former University of Kentucky cheerleader is facing a significantly more serious charge after a medical examiner made a gut-wrenching discovery in connection with the death of her newborn.
As Blaze News previously reported, Laken Snelling was arrested in August after her newborn baby was found dead.
‘[Snelling] said that she believed the baby to be dead and wrapped the baby up like a burrito and laid next to it [on] the floor because it gave her a little comfort in the moment.’
At the time of her arrest, Snelling was a senior at the University of Kentucky and a member of the STUNT team, which finished second at last year’s NCAA competition. Snelling has since withdrawn from the school.
Citing the arrest record, WLEX-TV reported that Snelling “admitted to giving birth” to the baby during an interview with police.
Court records USA Today obtained reveal that Snelling told police she gave birth to a baby around 4 a.m. Aug. 27, and the newborn “fell into the floor of her bedroom.”
The affidavit said Snelling informed investigators that she did not believe the newborn baby boy was breathing or alive, and she passed out approximately 30 minutes later.
When Snelling woke up, she “quickly got up” and saw “the baby turning blue and purple,” according to the affidavit.
“[Snelling] said that she believed the baby to be dead and wrapped the baby up like a burrito and laid next to it [on] the floor because it gave her a little comfort in the moment,” court docs said.
Snelling “admitted 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,” the arrest record stated.
Snelling was initially charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
WLEX cited court documents that stated Snelling was on “home incarceration with no ankle monitor” at her parents’ residence in Tennessee since September.
Snelling entered a not guilty plea to the original charges.
However, she’s now facing a new charge in light of the medical examiner’s recent report.
WLKY-TV reported that the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s office determined the baby was born alive and his cause of death was asphyxia by undetermined means.
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird noted, “Baby Snelling was born alive and then died from asphyxia through unknown means. So that’s what we needed to make sure about.”
On Tuesday, a Fayette County grand jury indicted Snelling on a new charge of first-degree manslaughter as well as the previous charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
Baird told WKYT-TV that the grand jury was “given the information about homicide, the four levels of homicide, and then deliberated and decided that manslaughter first degree was the charge that should come out of the grand jury.”
According to the University Herald, Snelling faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of first-degree manslaughter. If convicted on the other three charges, Snelling faces up to an additional 11 years in prison.
Kentucky law defines first-degree manslaughter as when a person intends to cause serious physical injury to another person and causes death; intends to cause death but does so under extreme emotional disturbance; or intentionally abuses a person under age 12 and causes death.
Her previous charge of abuse of a corpse is a class D felony that carries a prison sentence of between one and five years.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Snelling, and she’s scheduled for arraignment in Fayette County at 8:30 a.m. April 10, according to WKYT.
The Lexington Police Department did not immediately respond to Blaze News‘ request for comment.
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