Chilling last post of Kentucky cheerleader, 21, who ‘hid dead newborn in a trash bag in closet’

A Kentucky college cheerleader said one of her life goals was to be a mom before she dumped the corpse of her newborn baby in a closet, according to police.

Laken Snelling, 21, was arrested on Saturday and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. 

But just months before, on June 25, Snelling had posted a TikTok where she said having a baby was among her goals. Some of her other goals included getting married and owning a home.

Social media users have been leaving comments on the post since news of Snelling’s arrest emerged. 

Some of the comments pointed out that while abortion is illegal in Kentucky, there are places in the state to drop off unwanted newborns.

Police have not released additional information and the baby’s cause of death remains unclear. 

Officers with the Lexington Police Department were called to a home on the 400 block of Park Avenue for a report of an unresponsive infant on Wednesday morning, LEX 18 reported.

The baby was pronounced dead at the scene at around 10:30am.  

An arrest citation said the ‘infant was located wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag.’

Snelling allegedly admitted to officers that she gave birth after being read her rights.

She ‘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,’ according to the citation. 

As of Monday, the child’s cause of death had not yet to be determined by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office, reported the Independent.   

Snelling is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center and the department’s Special Victims Section is continuing to investigate.

A near-total abortion ban has been in effect in Kentucky since 2022, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

The ban only permits abortion to prevent the ‘substantial risk of death’ or to prevent the ‘serious, permanent impairment of a life-sustaining organ’ of the pregnant person.

Snelling is a member of the University of Kentucky ‘stunt team,’ a competitive cheer program, according to the school’s athletics website.

‘We can confirm that she has been a member of the STUNT team for the last three seasons,’ the university said in a statement to LEX 18. ‘All other questions should be directed to the Lexington Police.’

Snelling is from White Pine, Tennessee, and was studying Interdisciplinary Disability Studies at the University of Kentucky.