Overview

• Lexington police say officers responding to a call found a newborn wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag hidden in a closet at a residence on the 400 block of Park Avenue.
• Laken Snelling, 21, was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
• According to the arrest citation, Snelling admitted she had given birth and said she cleaned up and placed items used in the cleanup, including the infant, into a black trash bag.
• The Fayette County medical examiner conducted an autopsy on August 29, but officials have not released a determination on how the infant died.
• Snelling, a senior and member of the university’s STUNT team, is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center as the case draws heightened attention given Kentucky’s near‑total abortion restrictions enacted in 2022.