The University of Kentucky cheerleader accused of hiding her dead baby inside her closet told doctors the infant was born alive and she had heard it “whimper” before ultimately stuffing it in a trash bag, according to court documents.
The new details mark an about-face for Laken Snelling, 21, who initially told cops she believed she gave birth to a dead baby.
Snelling allegedly made the stunning admission one day after she delivered the infant, following her arrest and interrogation by police for allegedly concealing evidence of the crime.
The baby had shown “a little bit of fetal movement” and made a “whimper,” she allegedly told staff at the University of Kentucky Labor and Delivery unit, adding she “guessed” he was alive at birth, according to court records obtained by the student-run University of Kentucky outlet the Kentucky Kernel.
The infant appeared to have been full-term when the body was found.
Snelling, a member of the university’s STUNT team, allegedly took several photos while she was in labor — but deleted them “in an attempt to hide the birth,” cops said.
The college student was arrested just hours after she gave birth to the child in her off-campus house. Police were called by her roommate, who, after hearing suspicious noises in the middle of the night, snooped into Snelling’s room after she had left for class and discovered the corpse.
Snelling told cops she had given birth around 4 a.m. on Aug. 27 and that the baby fell on the floor, but she didn’t think he was “breathing or alive,” according to the affidavit.
The student then claimed she passed out, “falling on top of the baby.”
When she woke up, Snelling said she saw “the baby turning blue and purple.”
Believing the boy was dead, she “wrapped the baby up like a burrito and laid next to it” because it “gave her a little comfort in the moment,” the affidavit said.
Snelling allegedly wrapped her son’s corpse in a towel and then stuffed him into a trash bag, which she then hid in her closet, before showering and cleaning up the blood in her room, authorities said
With her roommates questioning her about the noises they’d heard overnight, Snelling allegedly claimed to be sick and said she was going to a doctor, according to authorities.
The roommates did not know Snelling was pregnant — though one told cops they were suspicious that their friend had been hiding a pregnancy.
She told cops she left for class, but instead sat in her car and ordered McDonald’s before returning home to find police waiting for her.
Snelling has pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
She has withdrawn from the Lexington-area school and is no longer a member of the STUNT team.
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