By Tessa Redmond
Kentucky Today
Laken Snelling, a former University of Kentucky student who was arrested in connection to her infant’s death last year, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other charges.
“I ended his life,” Snelling told Fayette Circuit Judge Diane Minnifield in court on August 21.
Laken Snelling, 21, was indicted for manslaughter in the death of her infant.
Snelling stated she was under “a lot of emotional distress” and her baby came unexpectedly.
“I deprived him of oxygen,” Snelling said when asked how she ended the newborn’s life.
The incident occurred on Aug. 27, 2025, when officers were dispatched to Snelling’s residence in Lexington for “a deceased infant being located in a closet.” The infant was found wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Snelling requested to be “checked out” medically while being interviewed by officers and admitted to giving birth and “concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside a black trash bag, including the infant, who was wrapped in a towel.”
The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Snelling’s baby, a boy, “was born alive” and found “his cause of death to be asphyxia by undetermined means.”
Snelling previously pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. A grand jury indicted her on those charges on March 10, 2026, and added a charge of first-degree manslaughter.
Prosecutors have recommended a 13-year sentence for Snelling -1 0 years for manslaughter, one year for abuse of a corpse, one year for tampering with physical evidence and 12 months for concealing the birth of an infant.
Her sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 16, 2026.