Former University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader Laken Snelling appeared in a Lexington courtroom on Friday, April 10, entering a not guilty plea after being indicted for the death of her newborn baby.
Snelling was dressed in a blue, floor-length dress and flanked by her two attorneys in a video captured by TMZ. She did not speak at the brief hearing.
After Snelling’s lawyers entered the not guilty plea, the former student-athlete was directly addressed by the judge.
“Ms. Snelling, you are currently out on a posted bond,” the judge said. “Continue to comply with the terms of your bond conditions. No further violations of the law.”
A pretrial conference was scheduled for May 14, with a status hearing scheduled for June 12.
Snelling was indicted on charges of first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant on March 10.
She was taken into custody at the Fayette County Detention Center on March 12, where she took a mugshot. Snelling’s father posted a $10,000 bond and she was released.
The manslaughter charge was issued against Snelling after it was determined her baby was alive when she gave birth in August 2025 before she allegedly hid the body in a closet in her Lexington home. First-degree manslaughter is a Class B felony in Kentucky, punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.
The infant’s cause of death was ruled to be “asphyxia by undetermined means” by the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office.
Snelling was not charged with murder because she acted under “extreme emotional disturbance,” according to an indictment obtained by Us Weekly in March.
The indictment said Snelling “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.”
Snelling, a former member of the University of Kentucky’s STUNT cheerleading team, was initially arrested in August 2025 after her roommates found a “blood-soaked towel on the floor and a plastic bag containing evidence of childbirth.”
When she was questioned by authorities, Snelling “admitted to giving birth” and 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.”
After being arrested the first time, Snelling was released on bond and ordered to live under house arrest while wearing a GPS tracking device.
