New information in the investigation of the University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling’s case, whose infant was discovered in a rubbish bag in her bedroom closet, suggests the baby may have been born alive.
Snelling pleaded not guilty to mishandling “a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant,” despite earlier admitting to giving birth and hiding the evidence.
She has since dropped out of school and been placed under house arrest at her parents’ home in Tennessee.
Laken Snelling’s roommates heard noises like something falling
Image credits: universityofky
According to a local outlet, Snelling is now contradicting herself.
In an earlier statement (on August 27), she told police that her baby boy had fallen on the floor when she gave birth at 4 am the same morning.
She also stated that she did not know if he was “breathing or alive.”
Image credits: Laken Snelling
An interview of one of Snelling’s housemates corroborated this account, as they had heard “loud noises like something had fallen,” and posted on their Snapchat group about it.
Another roommate echoed this account, claiming that said “loud noises” continued for an hour.
Snelling claimed the noise was from her passing out. She told her roommates she was ill and had not eaten
According to Snelling, she was “awake for around 30 minutes after giving birth before [passing out and] falling on top of the baby.”
Image credits: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash
When she came to, she described the baby as blue in color, leading to her belief that he was lifeless, and so 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 elaborates how Snelling took a shower to get rid of the blood, then used paper towels to clean away the evidence and “placed the placenta inside a zip lock bag.”
Her account claimed she then replied to the Snapchat group around four hours later, attempting to excuse the noises by saying she had passed out from not eating and planned to see a doctor as she was not feeling well.
The cheerleader tried to attend class like nothing happened
Image credits: ABC 7
Having hidden the tragedy in her apartment, she headed off to her 9:30 class but could not bring herself to attend. So she sat in the parking lot and ordered McDonald’s.
Feeling unwell, she went to the University’s student clinic but “also did not go inside” and instead went home.
It was then (some time after 10:34 am, when police, having been tipped off by an unnamed roommate, arrived) that she was apprehended by law enforcement.
Snelling told hospital staff that she heard her baby whimper
Image credits: Laken Snelling
It has since come to light that Snelling thinks her baby was alive at birth.
She telegraphed this to medical staff at the University of Kentucky Labor and Delivery when she told them she detected “a little bit of fetal movement” and a “whimper.”
Police have thus since taken over her phone and are scouring her socials and the iCloud account she shares with her mother.
Image credits: universityofky
An affidavit cited by the Kentucky Kernel noted “locating several searches, including different things pertaining to pregnancy, images of her during labor, photos of her doing things ordinary pregnant women would not be doing, and a concealed or hidden pregnancy.”
Snelling allegedly took photos of herself giving birth
As a nod to this, one of the images circulated by numerous outlets depicts Snelling in cheerleading attire during an act. Said picture also shows a well-rounded stomach.
Image credits: FloCheer
The legal filing noted that the college student had even taken photos of herself in labor before deleting them in a bid to “hide the birth.”
The internet has since responded with a mixed reaction. Some netizens are marveling at the fact that the medical examiner’s report has still not been released.
“They still don’t have the autopsy report? So we still don’t know if she [took the baby’s life] or just hid it,” remarked one person.
Image credits: fayette county detention center
“Innocent people don’t hide babies like that,” remarked another.
An interview with those who knew her suggested Snelling was unpopular in some circles
The Daily Mail claims to have interviewed people who knew Snelling, reported an unnamed person describing her as an “appearance-obsessed bully,” who tried to run a fellow student down with her Jeep one day.
The person reportedly said Snelling’s antics were so terrifying that some individuals changed schools to escape her.
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