A shocking case has emerged in Lexington, Kentucky, where a 21-year-old college senior was arrested after authorities discovered the body of a newborn baby in her apartment closet. The infant, wrapped in a towel and placed inside a black garbage bag alongside cleaning supplies, was found on the morning of August 27, according to reports from Daily Mail and other media outlets.
Emergency responders were called around 10:30 a.m. after someone reported, “I just found a baby’s body in the closet; it was already cold to the touch.” Upon arrival, first responders confirmed the presence of a male infant wrapped in a towel inside a garbage bag, declaring the baby dead at the scene. The cause of death remains under investigation.
Police later identified the apartment as belonging to Laken Snelling, a senior and cheerleader at the University of Kentucky. Snelling was not at home at the time, but after reviewing surveillance footage, authorities located and arrested her. Preliminary investigations suggest that Snelling may have given birth at home and attempted to conceal the infant’s death by cleaning the area and placing the body in a garbage bag with cleaning materials.
Snelling faces charges including abuse of a corpse, evidence tampering, and concealing a birth, all of which she denies. The court set bail at $100,000, allowing her to return to her parents’ home in Jefferson, Tennessee, under house arrest. Her first hearing is scheduled for September 26.
The case has sparked national attention, with social media users pointing out that Snelling had been active in her university’s cheerleading team earlier this year. During a performance in April, some observers noted that her abdomen appeared slightly enlarged. In June, she posted photos with her 24-year-old basketball player boyfriend, Connor Jordan, showing the couple placing their hands gently on her stomach, adding to speculation about her pregnancy.
