BEAUTY-QUEEN-CHEERLEADER SELFIES, BABY IN TRASH BAG DEAD IN CLOSET

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

News, True Crime

3.9 • 7.6K Ratings

🗓️ 29 November 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

New details emerging after a 21-year-old college student and cheerleader from the University of Kentucky is accused of hiding her newborn inside her college apartment closet.

Laken Snelling is arrested after her infant is found dead in a trash bag inside the closet. An autopsy report only deepens the mystery surrounding the infant's death because the results are found to be inconclusive. Snelling posted baby bump pics before her infant was found dead.

Authorities allege Snelling gave birth in secret, wrapped her baby in a towel, placed him in a trash bag, and left him in her closet.

According to an arrest report, Lexington police were called to a home on Park Avenue for an unresponsive infant on Wednesday. Police said they found a baby's body in a closet, wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag.

The UK cheerleader is now charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. Court records show Snelling took selfies during birth.

Joining Nancy Grace today,

Josh Kolsrud - Criminal Defense Attorney and Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Founder of Kolsrud Law Offices, kolsrudlawoffices.com, Facebook and YouTube @KohlsrudLawOffices
Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker,” featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock, www.drbethanymarshall.com , Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, Twitter: @DrBethanyLive
Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Host of NEW Podcast "Mayhem in the Morgue”, Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University)
Chris Byers - Private investigator and owner of Byers Investigative Services, Former Police Chief Johns Creek Georgia, 25 years Police Officer, website: byersinvestigative.com
Germania Rodriguez - Chief US Reporter, DailyMail.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:02.5	Guaranteed Human.
0:04.6	Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
0:11.9	Is this real?
0:14.2	Am I correct?
0:17.2	Did Kentucky cheerleader Lakin Snelling actually take selfies while she is in labor while giving birth?
0:30.1	Leave the baby to die, who by the way, we now learn was whimpering, translation was alive.
0:37.1	Leave the baby wrapped up in a blanket and a trash bag in her
0:40.9	closet, either dead or dying, and then pop out for McDonald's. Ruttrow. I'm Nancy Grace. This
0:51.5	is crime stories. I'm going to thank you for being with us.
0:55.4	We are learning from court documents that the Kentucky stunt girl cheerleader, Beauty Queen,
1:02.4	Lake and Snelling, took selfies while she's giving birth?
1:10.4	Just before she secretly delivers her baby, then allegedly leaving it,
1:17.2	wrapped up in blankets, towels, in a trash bag in her closet, and then dashes out to get
1:23.9	McDonald's.
1:26.8	Okay, according to what we are learning right now,
1:29.6	Snelling's phone was full of images of her during labor.
1:34.8	Photos of her doing things.
1:37.1	Ordinary pregnant women should not be doing.
1:40.1	Now, that's according to court documents.
1:43.5	Then she deletes, tries to delete the photos in an apparent attempt to hide the birth of the baby.
1:53.0	These affidavits are chock full of evidence.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 2 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.