Laken Snelling, a former member of the University of Kentucky STUNT team, recently appeared in court. This happened after her newborn baby was found dead in a trash bag inside her closet.
On Friday, September 26, Snelling, who is 21 years old, went to court. The hearing was very short, lasting less than a minute. She decided to skip the preliminary hearing, which is an early stage in a court case. Now, the case will go to a grand jury. This group will look at the evidence and decide if Snelling should be formally charged with a crime.
About ten women, who were reportedly Snelling’s former classmates, came to the courthouse to support her.
Snelling was first arrested and charged on September 2. The charges included abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and hiding the birth of a baby. She pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Police officers went to a home near the University on August 27 after getting a call about a baby found dead in a closet. Snelling was not the one who made the call, and she wasn’t home when the police arrived. The baby was found wrapped in a towel inside a trash bag, along with cleaning supplies, according to the police report.
The police found Snelling later and arrested her. They said that she admitted to giving birth and putting the baby in the trash. She also told them that she needed to see a doctor.
An autopsy was done to find out how the baby died, but the results were not clear. More tests are needed to determine the cause of death.
After she was first arrested, Snelling was held in jail. But on September 2, a judge allowed her to go home to her family in Tennessee under house arrest. This was after someone paid a $100,000 bond.
Around the same time, Snelling decided to leave the University of Kentucky. She used to be on the school’s STUNT team, which did well in a national competition last year.
