A member of the University of Kentucky’s STUNT cheer team has been arrested in connection with the death of her newborn baby, according to Lexington police.
Police announced on Sunday that Laken Snelling, 21, had been arrested.
She faces charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
NEW: University of Kentucky student arrested after her baby was found deceased in a trash bag inside a closet.
21-year-old Laken Snelling has been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
Snelling is a member of the… pic.twitter.com/CWzlwctc0B
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 1, 2025
Officers were dispatched around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday to a home in the 400 block of Park Avenue.
Police said they were responding to reports of an unresponsive infant.
Upon arrival, law enforcement found the baby, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Fayette County Coroner’s Office will be releasing the official cause of death, police said.
According to an arrest citation obtained by WLEX-TV, the baby was inside a closet, “wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag.”
The citation said that after Snelling was informed of her rights, she “admitted to giving birth.”
She also confessed 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 citation stated.
As of Monday, Snelling was being held at the Fayette County Detention Center, police said.
The University of Kentucky confirmed Snelling’s status as a member of the school’s STUNT team.
“We can confirm that she has been a member of the STUNT team for the last three seasons,” the university said in a statement reported by WLEX.
“All other questions should be directed to the Lexington Police,” the statement added.
The university’s athletics website lists Snelling as a junior on the STUNT roster.
She also appears in photographs and posts on the school’s official social media accounts.
The investigation into the baby’s death is ongoing.
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