Inset: Laken Snelling (University of Kentucky). Background: Home in Lexington, Kentucky, where she allegedly gave birth to an infant and wrapped the child in a garbage bag (Google Maps).
Cops in Kentucky were startled to find a dead newborn wrapped in a plastic bag — and accused the infant”s mother of being behind the grim discovery.
The mother, a 21-year-old University of Kentucky cheerleader named Laken Snelling, stands accused of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. The Lexington Police Department was called around 10:30 a.m. Thursday about an unresponsive infant at a home in the 400 block of Park Avenue, just blocks away from campus.
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They arrived at the home and pronounced the infant dead at the scene.
Local NBC affiliate WLEX obtained an arrest citation that said the “infant was located wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag.” After receiving her Miranda warnings, Snelling reportedly admitted to giving birth to the child. She also reportedly “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.” Cops found the trash bag in a closet, the citation reportedly said.
The coroner’s office will determine a cause and manner of death. Cops have not said whether the baby was alive at birth.
Snelling was arrested and taken to the Fayette County Jail. It appears she has since bonded out.
The University of Kentucky told WLEX that Snelling was a member of the school’s competitive cheerleading team for the last three seasons and referred further comment to Lexington police. Her bio is on the team’s website. It says her hometown is White Pine, Tennessee, around 185 miles away from Lexington.
