Former Kentucky Cheerleader Sentenced to 10 Years After Newborn’s Death

Adriana Stone 0 1 min read

Former Kentucky Cheerleader Sentenced to 10 Years After Newborn’s Death

Laken Snelling, a former University of Kentucky cheerleader, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in connection with the death of her newborn son.

Snelling, 22, entered her guilty plea in Fayette Circuit Court on Aug. 21. The charges included first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.

During the plea hearing, Snelling told the court, “Instead of helping him, I ended his life.” Prosecutors had suggested a 10-year sentence under the agreement, and the judge imposed that term Friday. Snelling was taken into custody after the sentence was handed down.

The case began on Aug. 27, 2025, when Lexington police responded to a residence in the 400 block of Park Avenue after receiving a report about an unresponsive infant. Officers found the baby dead at the scene.

The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office later determined that the infant had been born alive and died from asphyxia by undetermined means.

According to search warrant documents, roommates heard loud noises coming from Snelling’s room at around 4 a.m. The sounds were reportedly strong enough to knock a picture from a wall. Shortly before 9 a.m., Snelling told a Snapchat group that the noise resulted from her passing out and that she planned to seek medical attention.

The roommates later entered the room and found the baby’s body. Court records described the infant as wrapped in a towel, placed inside a black trash bag, and hidden in a closet.

A Fayette County grand jury indicted Snelling on first-degree manslaughter. She had previously been arrested on allegations involving the concealment of the birth and tampering with evidence.

An indictment obtained by Us Weekly alleged that Snelling intentionally abused the infant and caused the death of a person who was 12 or younger, or who was physically or mentally helpless. Prosecutors did not charge her with murder after determining that she was under “extreme emotional disturbance.”

After her initial arrest, Snelling was released on a $100,000 bond. She spent months under house arrest at her parents’ property in Jefferson City, Tennessee, before returning to court for sentencing.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Henderson Baird previously described the case as “very tragic.”

The boy’s grandparents also spoke about the future they believed their grandson would have had. One woman, who said the child was called McCoy Cade Hall, said, “As a grandparent, you imagine the memories you’ll make with your grandchildren… You look forward to watching them grow and seeing the person they become.”

She added, “For Cade, those possibilities were taken away before he ever had the chance to experience them.”

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