Laken Snelling pleads guilty in connection with infant son's death

Laken Snelling, a 22-year-old former University of Kentucky student-athlete, pleaded guilty to charges related to the death of her infant son, whose body was discovered in a trash bag in a closet. Initially pleading not guilty, Snelling changed her plea on Friday after being indicted by a Fayette County grand jury on multiple charges, including abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. In court, Snelling expressed emotional distress, stating, "I was under a lot of emotional stress and my baby came unexpectedly. And instead of helping him, I ended his life and afterward I cleaned up and didn’t tell anyone." When questioned by Judge Diane Minnifield about how she ended the baby's life, Snelling responded, "I deprived him of oxygen." Commonwealth's attorney Kimberly Baird indicated that Snelling's attorney approached prosecutors regarding the plea deal. Officers responded to reports of an unresponsive infant on August 27, 2024, and found the child's remains in a black trash bag. Snelling was arrested shortly after and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A search of her phone revealed that she had deleted labor photos and evidence of her pregnancy.