A University of Kentucky athlete allegedly placed her dead infant inside a trash bag later found in a closet while trying to hide the baby’s birth, leading to her being jailed, according to local authorities and media reporting.
Laken Ashlee Snelling, 21, faces charges of corpse abuse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant after her arrest on Sunday, police in Lexington, Kentucky, said in a statement.
Snelling had been a member of the University of Kentucky’s competitive cheer stunt squad for the past three seasons, the school told the local news station WLEX in a statement. Her arrest citation, which was obtained and reviewed by WLEX, says police were called out to Snelling’s home on 27 August to investigate a report of “a deceased infant being located inside … a closet”.
The baby was “wrapped in a towel inside … a black trash bag”, prompting police to read Snelling her Miranda rights as well as interrogate her, the citation said. The citation added that Snelling admitted to investigators that she had given birth to the child and then tried to conceal that by “cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside of a black trash bag, including the infant”.
The local coroner’s office later said an autopsy conducted on the infant yielded inconclusive findings about the baby’s cause of death, and more tests would be needed.
Snelling by Tuesday had been released from jail on a bond of $100,000. She pleaded not guilty at a preliminary court appearance on Tuesday and was ordered to live with her parents, WLEX reported.
Her next court hearing was tentatively set for 26 September. Information on Kentucky athletics’ website described Snelling as a native of White Pine, Tennessee.
The more serious charges against Snelling are corpse abuse and tampering with physical evidence. Under Kentucky state law, both are considered class D felonies, meaning people convicted of those crimes in particular could receive between one and five years in prison as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
Since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022, multiple women have faced criminal charges after suffering miscarriages, sparking fears among experts and women that pregnancy losses may now be treated like crime scenes.
It was not clear on Tuesday if Snelling gave birth, suffered a miscarriage or stillbirth, or underwent a self-managed abortion. It is legal in most states, including Kentucky, to self-manage your own abortion.
