Former student Laken Snelling now faces a manslaughter count in addition to the three charges filed after her arrest in 2025.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — What began as a shocking death investigation near the University of Kentucky campus has developed into a felony homicide case, with former student and STUNT team member Laken Snelling charged with first-degree manslaughter in the death of her newborn son.
The case has unfolded in two distinct stages. The first came in late August 2025, when police found a dead infant in a Park Avenue residence and arrested Snelling on charges tied to concealment and evidence. The second came in March 2026, after the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office determined the baby was born alive and died of asphyxia by undetermined means. That conclusion led a Fayette County grand jury to add the manslaughter count, pushing the matter beyond the original allegations and toward a more consequential court fight.
Snelling’s connection to the university made the case immediately notable in Lexington. The University of Kentucky first confirmed she had been a member of the school’s STUNT team for the previous three seasons and directed further questions to police. Later, university spokesperson Jay Blanton told local reporters that Snelling had withdrawn from school and was “no longer on the stunt team as well.” The death site was only blocks from campus, in a part of the city where student housing and university life overlap with permanent residential neighborhoods. That setting helped explain why the case spread quickly through local conversation, even before officials had settled the cause of death or considered any homicide charge.
The public facts released by police were stark. Officers were dispatched around 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2025, to the 400 block of Park Avenue for an unresponsive infant. The child was pronounced dead at the scene. An arrest citation later said the infant was found wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag in a closet. According to records cited by local outlets, Snelling admitted giving birth and admitted cleaning up evidence. She also allegedly told police she passed out on top of the baby and later saw him blue and purple. At that point, though, the case still lacked the medical conclusion needed to determine whether the death would remain a concealment-related prosecution or grow into something more serious.
That uncertainty shaped the fall court proceedings. The coroner’s office said the manner of death was “currently undetermined” and that more analysis was necessary. Snelling entered a not guilty plea on the original counts and was released under court restrictions, including later home-confinement conditions reported by local media. Prosecutors subpoenaed medical records as the case moved toward grand jury review. The city has said the investigation involved local police, prosecutors, the state medical examiner, the county coroner and the Kentucky State Police forensic lab. In effect, the case left the immediate shock of the August discovery and entered the slower, document-heavy stage where investigators build a record strong enough to support a more serious charge.
That record appears to have solidified in March. On March 10, 2026, the city announced that a Fayette County grand jury had indicted Snelling on first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird later said jurors had been instructed on the four levels of homicide before deciding on first-degree manslaughter. An arrest warrant was issued March 11, and Snelling was booked March 12 before posting a $10,000 bond. Her arraignment was scheduled for April 10. For the court system, those steps mark the transition from investigative accumulation to formal prosecution on an indictment carrying far heavier consequences than the original filing.
The broader significance in Lexington lies in that shift. Cases involving hidden pregnancies and newborn deaths often begin with partial facts, conflicting early assumptions and public scrutiny that moves faster than forensic work. This one followed that pattern. It drew attention because of the defendant’s age, school ties and proximity to campus, but it advanced only after the medical findings narrowed the central question. Even now, officials have not publicly described a single precise mechanism beyond asphyxia by undetermined means. That leaves a narrower but more difficult issue for court: whether the state can translate the medical finding, the physical evidence and Snelling’s reported statements into proof of first-degree manslaughter.
As the case heads toward arraignment, it stands at the point where local shock, institutional fallout and forensic evidence meet. The next scheduled milestone is April 10 in Fayette County court.
Author note: Last updated April 6, 2026.