The University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader accused of stuffing her dead baby into a closet had recently shared a series of professional photos with her boyfriend.
Laken Snelling, 21, posted a slideshow of pictures via TikTok on June 18, showing the athlete and her partner posing in a field while wearing coordinating white outfits.
Snelling and the young man are seen with their arms wrapped around each other and holding hands as they look into each other’s eyes.
The cheerleader captioned the post with three white heart emojis.
Snelling also shared a video of herself and the man — who is not confirmed to be connected to Snelling’s pregnancy or her baby’s death — before a Megan Moroney concert in April.
“Ready for you megan 💗,” Snelling captioned the video, which showed him hugging her from behind and kissing her cheek.
It is not clear if Snelling and the man are still together.
Snelling was arrested on Saturday, August 30, and charged with Abuse of a Corpse, Tampering with Physical Evidence and Concealing the Birth of an Infant.
During an appearance in a Lexington, Kentucky, courtroom on Tuesday, September 2, Snelling pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Snelling was released on $100,000 bond and is now living on “home incarceration with no ankle monitor” with her parents in Jefferson City, Tennessee.
Officers were dispatched to Snelling’s home in Lexington on Wednesday, August 27, responding to a call about an unresponsive infant, according to a Lexington Police Department report obtained by LEX 18 News.
According to an arrest citation, the “infant was located wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag.”
Snelling “admitted to giving birth” to the officers who arrived on the scene.
The cheerleader also admitted to “concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside of a black trash bag, including the infant, who was wrapped in a towel.”
The infant’s cause of death is still under investigation and will be handled by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
Snelling had been a member of the University of Kentucky’s STUNT cheerleading team for the last three seasons. She was majoring in Interdisciplinary Disability Studies at the school, according to her Facebook page.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 26.
