Law&Crime Sidebar - Smiling 'Baby Killer' Beauty Queen Says She Didn't Do It

Episode Date: April 10, 2026

Laken Snelling, the former University of Kentucky cheerleader accused of giving birth alone in her apartment, letting her baby die, and concealing his body, entered a not guilty plea to a first degree manslaughter charge. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down Snelling’s arraignment, where she made what could be a life-changing decision.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrimeTwitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In Snelling, you are here today for formal arraimage. We are in her not guilty plea. The Commonwealth is giving this discovery. Lake and Snelling, the former University of Kentucky cheerleader, accused of giving birth alone in her apartment, letting her baby die, wrapping his body in a towel, hiding him in a closet. Those allegations, that defendant,

she has just pled not guilty to a charge that could send her to prison for decades. Now here's what matters. The prosecutor is already handing over discussion. And it does become a question, what is the evidence in this case? What is going to happen to her now? What is her potential defense? Let's get into it. Welcome to Sidebar.

Presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Blake and Snelling was in court this morning. Now, this was a big hearing. If you don't know who she is, I'm going to get into it right now. I will tell you this is not easy to listen to. Okay. But she is the former University of Kentucky cheerleader who is accused of giving birth alone

in her off-campus house. The one who allegedly caused her baby's death, wrapped this baby in a towel, stuffed him inside of a trash bag like literal garbage and hit him in a closet. Those are the allegations that she's facing. She is innocent until proven guilty, but those are the allegations. What happened today? She walked into that courtroom today facing a brand new charge, a charge that could send her to prison for up to 20 years. And she said two words in particular, not guilty. We were inside that courtroom. We're going to take you inside in just a moment.

But we have to explain what all of this means because she's not taking a deal. As of right now, she intends to fight this. She is forcing the Commonwealth of Kentucky to prove every single word of that indictment, to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. So what happens between now and her next court date, very important? What is the evidence in this case, the potential evidence? Is she really willing to let a jury of her peers, 12 strangers, decide whether or not she is guilty on this? I have to back up, okay?

I have to explain how all of this ties together. You need to understand the gravity of the accusations, what she might be facing, what she allegedly did. And this goes back to August 27th of 2025. Here's the timeline, okay? So around 10.30 in the morning, again, August 27, 2025, Lexington Police were called to Snelling's off-campus home on Park Avenue. What was the report? Unresponsive infant. According to People magazine, it was Snelling's roommates who placed the call. Reportedly, they found blood in her room, heard these weird noises. We're going to get into it more, but this is according to affidavits in this case. When officers arrived,

they made an alleged discovery that is just haunting. A baby boy wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag hidden in a closet. Those are the alleged details. The baby was, apparently pronounced dead at the scene and was reportedly a full term baby. Here's the next part. Snelling, according to People Magazine and the documents, wasn't there. She is accused of leaving her home, going to class, although there is a dispute about whether or not she went into class. Again, by the way, despite just having allegedly given birth and allegedly concealing the baby's

body, that she eventually is accused of ordering McDonald's, sitting outside or parking outside of a student clinic before eventually making her home where she's ultimately detained and brought in for questioning. Now, according to the paperwork, according to the arrest citation, after she was read her Miranda rights but decided to waive those rights, I am going to read you verbatim from this incident report. Quote, the listed offender was Mirandized and interviewed and admitted to giving birth. Furthermore, the listed suspect 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.

In the process of cleaning the evidence of the birth, the listed suspect tampered with said evidence that proved she was given birth. By wrapping the infant in towels and placing it inside of a black trash bag, the listed suspect treated the corpse in a way that would outrage ordinary family sensibilities. That's what leads to a charge that you're going to hear in a little bit. Now, remember, that's the police's narrative. the defense challenges that alleged confession, but the alleged details that came out later are what turned this case from disturbing to absolutely gut-wrenching. Court documents that were

obtained by the University of Kentucky student newspaper, the Kentucky Colonel, revealed what Snelling reportedly told police, per those documents that were reviewed by the outlet. Snelling allegedly said she gave birth at around 4.30 that morning alone. She allegedly told officers that the baby fell on the floor that she didn't think the baby was breathing or alive. She then allegedly said she was awake for about a half hour and then she fell asleep on top of the baby. When she woke up, she reportedly claimed the baby had turned blue and purple. She allegedly said she didn't think he was alive. And then she allegedly said she wrapped the baby, quote, like a burrito and laid next to him in what she reportedly called a moment of comfort. When she woke up for class later that

morning, she allegedly wrapped the baby in a towel, put the body in a trash bag, placed the bag in the closet, cleaned up the blood with paper towels, put the placenta in a Ziploc bag, and then left the house. She then reportedly says she planned to go to class but didn't. According to her, instead, she allegedly sat in her car. And according to court documents, she is then accused of ordering McDonald's through the app. And by the way, we'll see if they have a digital receipt to prove that. But while all of this was happening, Snelling had roommates in the house, and they had reportedly become suspicious, because around the same time that Snelling says she was giving birth, one roommate texted a Snapchat group saying they thought they heard something fall.

Another apparently said they heard noises for about an hour. And according to the Kentucky Colonel, Snelling reportedly responded in this group chat saying the noises were from her falling down from not eating, that she hadn't been feeling well and that she planned to go to the doctor. After Snelling allegedly left for class, the roommates apparently went into a room, and they reportedly found a blood-soaked towel. They reportedly found a plastic bag with evidence of childbirth, and they reportedly found the baby. And that is when they call police. Now, Snelling eventually went to the hospital, and this is crucial because at the hospital, she allegedly told medical personnel something different than what she told police. She allegedly said the baby displayed, quote, a little bit of fetal movement.

She allegedly said the baby made a whimper. And she said she, quote, guessed the baby was alive. That is very important for a legal context because when the baby was alive or not alive and how the baby died, that's the case. That's crucial. We've seen this in a number of these cases before because there's a difference between saying stillbirth, right, versus death after birth. Very different.

Now, there was an autopsy that was performed. And according to reports, the autopsy apparently included the baby was born alive. Cause of death? Asphyxia by undetermined means. And I'm sure that's going to be ripe for a battle of the experts, right? Defense expert, prosecution expert about the cause of death and what happened to this baby. Now, as investigators started digging into this case, they didn't just rely on what was found inside that apartment. They went straight to Snelling's digital footprint. What do I mean?

According to affidavits that were tied to multiple search warrants, police reportedly seized her phone and sought access to several of her online accounts, Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and even this shared I-Cloud account that was connected to her mother. And what they claim they found is telling. Investigators reported discovering a series of searches related to pregnancy, along with images of Snelling during labor, photos they described as inconsistent with what you typically expect from somebody in late stage pregnancy. Authorities also claim that some of those images, meaning, you know, at least one taken during labor, had been been deleted. And that raised the red flag. In their view, it suggested a possible attempt to

conceal the evidence, not just the birth, but the pregnancy itself. And that is why they pushed for even broader access. In those warrant requests, investigators made it clear. They believed that her social media and cloud accounts could contain critical evidence, including deleted material tied to the pregnancy, the birth of the baby, and ultimately the child's death. So A, not only could that potentially be used to prove their case, but B, it goes back to this idea of potentially defeating an argument like we've seen in other cases. I don't know if it's going to be presented here, where you have a defendant saying, you know, I didn't know I was pregnant until it happened until I went into labor. Again, if this evidence is true, it could be difficult. So Snelling was

initially arrested in charge with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. She was not hit with a homicide charge yet. She had pleaded at the time, not guilty to those charges. She posted a $100,000 bond. She was released to her father's home in Tennessee with electronic monitoring, and for months, that's where things stood. Then, March of 2026, a grand jury was convened. And they added a new charge that changed everything. On March 11th, a Fayette County grand jury indicted Lake and Snelling on first-degree manslaughter. I'm going to read you exactly what that indictment says.

Quote, on or about the 27th day of August 2025 in Fayette County, Kentucky, the above-named defendant committed the offense of manslaughter first degree when with the intent to cause serious physical injury to the infant, she caused the death of the infant, or with the intent to cause the death of the infant under circumstances which do not constitute murder because she acted under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance, she intentionally abused the infant and thereby caused death. Two different theories there. Now this is apparently a Class B felony, which in Kentucky, our understanding, carries 10 to 20 years in prison. She still faces the other charges, by the way, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, concealing the birth of an infant.

That last one, by the way, misdemeanor, believe it or not, meaning you won't get more than a year in jail. But she's looking at serious prison time when you look at all of us together. And that brings us to this morning, April 10, 2026, you go to Fayette County Circuit Court, Lake and Snelling, walked into that courtroom for her formal arraignment on the new manslaughter charge. And I'm going to play you exactly what happened. It was fast, but also incredibly important. Hi. What's your name? It's Lake and Snelling. Snail. Okay. Ma'am, are you Lake and Snail? Is it Snelling? Snelling. Okay. We're going to call 26 CR 209, 209. Ms. Snelling, you are here today

for formal arraignment. And Mr. Lowry, are you going to be the attorney of record? Mr. Nash and as long as well as Mr. Nash. And I have a brand, and Marshall. Is he in it as well? I'm Marshall. You're Marshall, not Nash. I'm going to another case I've got with Mr. Nash later this morning. All right. And who's going to be the Commonwealth? We are. All righty. Miss Nash, Mr. Ms. McH is. Okay. Thank you. And Mr. Lowry, are we going to waive formal reading of the indictment? We are in our not guilty please, Your Honor, ask for pretrial date. I believe we've agreed on May 14th

as a free trial date, the status date following that. May 14. The Commonwealth has given us discovery. We've given them reciprocal already. And then my next available status date would either be June 12th, June 26. June 12th, June 12th, okay, 612.

Ms. Snelling, you are currently out on a posted bond. Continue to comply with the terms of your bond conditions, no further violations of the law. We will see you back on two dates. You have a pre-trial scheduled for May the 14th. That's when you and your attorneys will meet with the Commonwealth to determine if there's any resolution of this short of a trial.

And then we will come back and see me for a status hearing on June the 12th. And that will be at 8.30. Okay? Anything else from the Commonwealth? No, you're all. Thank you. Thank you. So let me break down what just happened.

Okay, so first she pleaded not guilty. This is her formal official answer to that. manslaughter charge. She sang under oath in front of a judge, I did not cause that baby's death. Second, her lawyers waived formal reading of the indictment. Standard speeds things up. But I mean, from a practical point of view, it also means we didn't, and she didn't, and no one had to sit through the prosecutor reading what she's accused of doing and some of the gruesome aspects of it. Third, and this is the most important part for where this case goes next, the judge set two dates, right? May 14th, pre-trial conference.

Here's what usually happens. Snelling's attorneys and the Commonwealth's attorneys, the prosecution they're going to meet. And they'll talk about whether there can be a resolution to this case. Can it be resolved before trial? Talk in plea negotiations. Also, potentially any issues of discovery could come up, essentially the prosecution handing over evidence to Snellings defense team, digital evidence, forensics, police reports, witness statements. And here's the thing.

The Commonwealth has already started because in court today, the defense attorney said, quote, the Commonwealth is giving us discovery. Past tense. They've already started handing things over. What's in that evidence? We don't know exactly. We're kind of getting snippets of what might be there. But we know what the prosecution has been looking for, according to WKYTV. Before the grand jury indicted her, prosecutors had issued a subpoena to UK Medical Center, demanding all of Lake and Snelling's medical records going back to August of 2024.

So that's a full year before she gave birth. Goes to this knowledge component. Goes to this idea of, did she know she was pregnant? Was she seeking treatment? What was happening? Who knew? And they also requested a search warrant for her social media accounts. Why? Again, I talked about it before because police said those accounts, quote, could contain current or deleted information that relates to Ms. Snelling's pregnancy to the birth of the full-term baby and ultimately its potential demise. We also know police recovered those images or alleged images of Snelling during labor or image during labor that she allegedly tried to delete. So between now and May 14th, the Commonwealth is going to have to show their hand essentially, and Snelling's defense team is going to see exactly what the prosecution has and that will direct whether or not they want to take.

this to trial. The second date is June 12th. So that's a status hearing. That's when both sides come back to the judge and say, here's where we stand. Are we settling? Are there plea negotiations? Can we resolve this? Are we picking a trial date? Do we need more time? Are there any issues? So that's where we are right now. But Lake and Snelling, yes, she's pleaded not guilty. The clock is ticking toward May 14th, but there's something else. And this is something that could tell us more about Snelling's potential strategy. What do I mean? Back in September of 2025, shortly after her arrest, Lake and Snelling had a hearing. It was a preliminary hearing. Now, for those of you who don't know, a preliminary hearing is where the prosecution has to show that there's probable cause to hold a defendant over for trial.

It's the first real test of the Commonwealth's case. It's a low standard, low burden. It's not proof beyond a reasonable doubt, but you just show what you have, is there enough to go to trial? And it's often the first time the public gets to see what evidence the prosecution actually has. Defense, too. Now, Lake and Snelling waived that hearing. We have audio of exactly what she said. Ms. Melanie, you just heard your attorney's safe. It's your desire to waive this matter. So they've come and you understood you got a right to have a freedom there in this morning. But it is your desire to wait this matter at this time.

She said yes. She gave up her right to hear the Commonwealth's evidence in open court in that format. She gave up her right to challenge that evidence. She sent the case straight to the grand jury, which the defense doesn't really have a say in. So yes, a grand jury determines if there's probable cause for charges here. But you go to the grand jury. It's a secret proceeding, right? The defense doesn't get a chance to present their side or challenge the evidence.

It's secret. So the public doesn't see what's being presented. Why would she do this? Well, the way that I see it, there might be a couple ways to look at it. So one, maybe her lawyers think or she thinks the evidence is weak. They don't want to give the prosecution a chance to lock in witness testimony early. Or maybe even give the prosecution the chance to alter their strategy at a trial. don't give them a first shot at this. They want to see the grand jury indictment first,

which is usually, as I said, a one-sided proceeding. Or two, this is another way of looking at it. The evidence is devastating against her. And our lawyers, they want it hidden from public view as long as possible, right? Because if that preliminary hearing had happened, generally speaking, usually those details would have been in the news, would have been reported on. The gruesome pieces of evidence would have been laid bare from a PR point of view, public opinion point of view, problem for a young woman like herself, but also potentially for jury selection and finding fair and impartial jurors who haven't heard anything about this. There's a lot of talk about the preliminary hearing. It might make it more difficult. So by waiving it, Snelling's team

arguably controlled the narrative. They bought themselves time. But that's the context of where we are right now. She waived her preliminary hearing. She got indicted on manslaughter, and today she said she pleaded not guilty. So what does a defense attorney think about all this? Well, my colleague Chris Stewart, spoke with attorney, criminal defense attorney, Eric Fattis, to break down what this case looks like from the defense perspective. Here's what he told Chris about the grand jury's decision to go with manslaughter instead of murder. Again, this is on the case. I can't help but wonder if there was some sympathy in those deliberations that could have

caused the grand jury to land on this first-degree manslaughter charge. Like you mentioned, that's a lesser charge than some of the other homicide and murder options they had with which they were presented. And so I'm just wondering if sort of that human aspect of all of this could have played a role in that charging decision. Now, look, we don't know for sure if a higher homicide charge was presented, but it is interesting. So even the grand jury, which only hears the prosecution side, maybe they felt some sort of sympathy for Snelling, a young college student, cheerleader, pregnant alone, panicking, maybe. Not entirely sure. Maybe they just presented manslaughter.

But I'll also say sympathy only go so far because Fattis also explained what the defense is likely to argue. that this was an accident, that Snelling passed out, that she rolled over on the baby, that the death wasn't intentional, that she didn't intend to cause any harm. If there were some malice involved, if there were some after deliberation, usually those are elements required for first-degree murder and also the intentional killing. So if she had planned this out, if this is something that she had contemplated for quite some time, that this was how she was going to handle this baby cutting, That certainly could have elevated the charge.

But here it seems like, according to most public reports, that this was kind of something that happened very quickly. And she made the decision she made. And here we are. She still charges something very serious. But it's not the same as if she had sort of planned to kill this baby from, you know, weeks prior. So that could be a defense, right?

Accident panic. Young girl freaked out, made horrible choices after the baby was already dead, but should not be held responsible for homicide? Here's the problem for Snelling, though. Allegedly, she didn't call 911. Her roommates did. She allegedly didn't go to the hospital immediately. She allegedly went to class, allegedly sat in her car and ordered McDonald's. And Fattis acknowledged that may be kind of hard to defend. Certainly, that's a problematic fact for the fence. It might appear callous. It might appear heartless. And so I think defense really has to sort of humanize that piece of this by saying, hey, this was a young girl. She was freaked out. She didn't know what in the world to do. And she made the wrong choice. But that's not the same thing necessarily as making the criminal choice. In most jurisdictions, prosecutors are allowed to seek an increase of bond, just as defense oftentimes seeks a decrease of bond, a modification of bond conditions. Prosecutors can do that too, based on new information, based on new developments in the case, based on new evidence. And with this,

a very serious charge of manslaughter, that could change the calculus in terms of bond, could convince a judge to cause her to be remanded back into custody. While this case is proceeding, however, I think the judge might be more inclined to maintain the status quo to the extent that the defendant has been complying, which it sounds like she has. So she may still receive the benefit of being able to fight this on the outside. So look, this is where we stand. Lakin Snelling has formally pleaded not guilty to first-degree manslaughter. She appears to still be allowed out on bond, on house arrest seemingly in Tennessee, wearing a GPS monitor.

I haven't seen anything that would suggest that it's different. And the next days are going to be critical. Between now and May 14th is Snelling, her defense team, they have to decide, do they want to take this to trial? Do they want to try to negotiate a plea here? Less prison time, maybe on the table. We'll say. Because if this does go to trial and she loses, as I mentioned, she's potentially looking at 10 to 20 years in prison, just from the manslaughter charge.

She takes a plea, admits the something, accepts responsibility maybe. I don't know. Well, we would have to see. So look, we don't know which way she'll go, but we'll be watching to see what happens next. It's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify,

wherever you should get your podcast.