A former University of Kentucky student has been charged with first-degree manslaughter in Fayette County, WKYT reports.
Laken Snelling is also charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and concealing the birth of a baby.
The charges stem from a case that occurred in August 2025, when her child died at a home on Lexington Park Avenue, near the University of Kentucky campus. Police were called to a Park Avenue home and when they arrived they found a baby wrapped in a towel in a trash bag in a closet. The baby died at the scene.
According to court documents, Snelling told police she gave birth to a baby and then put it in a trash bag in a closet. The baby died, and police charged Snelling with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and concealing the birth. After determining that the baby was born alive, the grand jury decided to indict Snelling on a charge of first-degree manslaughter.
The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the baby died of “unexplained asphyxiation.”
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