Former member of the University of Kentucky’s competitive cheerleading STUNT team, Laken Snelling, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for killing her newborn son. The newborn’s little body was discovered wrapped in a towel and stuffed inside a trash bag in her bedroom closet in August of 2025.
Snelling, 22, was immediately taken into custody following the October 16 sentencing in Fayette Circuit Court in Lexington, Kentucky.
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The sentence comes nearly two months after Snelling pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. As previously reported by Los Angeles, Snelling made a chilling admission during her August plea hearing, telling the judge, “Instead of helping him, I ended his life.” She also acknowledged depriving her baby of oxygen.
On Friday, Judge Diane Minnifield sentenced Snelling to 10 years in prison for first-degree manslaughter in the death of her newborn son. She also received one year for abuse of a corpse, for how she handled and concealed the baby’s body after his death; one year for tampering with physical evidence, after admitting she cleaned up the scene and placed bloodied towels and other items in bags; and one year for concealing the birth of an infant, after hiding the delivery and placing the baby’s body inside a trash bag in her bedroom closet.
Although the four sentences add up to 13 years, Minnifield ordered them to run concurrently, meaning Snelling will serve a total sentence of 10 years rather than serving each sentence separately. The judge also credited her with 415 days spent under house arrest while awaiting sentencing. Snelling is not eligible for probation but may become eligible for parole after serving 85% of her sentence, although early release is not guaranteed. This could mean the former co-ed could serve 7-8 years total.
The judge said she considered Snelling’s age, education and lack of a prior criminal record before accepting the prosecution’s recommended sentence. But Minnifield also reminded the former college student that her actions had consequences that didn’t just affect her own future.
“Sometimes those choices and consequences affect our future for the rest of our lives,” the judge said, pointing to the lasting pain suffered by the baby’s paternal family. The hearing included emotional statements from the family of the child, whose father, Izaiah Hall, named McCoy Cade Hall.
Hall addressed the court and expressed no desire for revenge.
“I don’t wish the worst on Laken,” he said. “What happened is, it is what it is. I can’t change it.”
The baby’s grandmother spoke about the milestones her family would never experience, including his first words, birthdays and holidays.
“Instead of celebrating his milestones, we’re left mourning the milestones that never were passed,” she told the court.
Snelling did not speak during sentencing, and her attorneys chose not to submit letters of support, citing the extensive media attention surrounding the case. One defense attorney told the judge that Snelling was deeply saddened by what happened and had accepted responsibility for her actions.
The tragic case dates back to August 27, 2025, when Snelling unexpectedly gave birth at her off-campus residence on Park Avenue in Lexington.
According to court documents previously reviewed by Los Angeles, her roommates reported hearing loud noises coming from her bedroom early that morning. One noise was apparently strong enough to knock a picture off a wall.
In a group conversation, Snelling later claimed she had passed out because she had not been feeling well and had not eaten. But her roommates remained suspicious. After Snelling left the residence, they entered her room and discovered a blood-soaked towel and the newborn’s body concealed in a trash bag inside her closet. Police were called, and the baby was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office subsequently determined that the infant had been born alive and died from asphyxia by undetermined means. Snelling initially told investigators that she had passed out on top of her baby after giving birth and awakened to find him turning blue and purple.
A Fayette County grand jury indicted her on first-degree manslaughter in March 2026, adding the most serious charge to the existing counts of evidence tampering, abuse of a corpse and concealing a birth.
During her August guilty plea, Snelling told the court she had been under emotional stress when the baby arrived unexpectedly. She admitted that she failed to help him, caused his death and then attempted to conceal what happened. Snelling had been living under house arrest in Tennessee while awaiting the outcome of her case. The judge credited her with 415 days already served under those restrictions.
Following the hearing, Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Baird acknowledged that the baby’s family continues to struggle with unanswered questions about why he died.
The post Former Kentucky Cheerleader Sentenced to 10 Years for Killing Newborn Son appeared first on LAmag.
