Former UK student acted under ‘emotional disturbance’ when infant died: indictment
The former University of Kentucky student-athlete indicted Tuesday on a manslaughter charge in the death of her baby last year was acting under “extreme emotional disturbance,” a grand jury determined.
The latest details in the case come from a copy of the indictment obtained by the Herald-Leader Wednesday.
Laken Snelling, 22, was indicted by a Fayette County grand jury Tuesday on charges of first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant. Following the proceedings, a new arrest warrant was issued Wednesday.
Grand jury proceeds with manslaughter charge
Snelling’s roomates called police to the 400 block of Park Avenue on Aug. 27, 2025, after they found remains wrapped in a towel inside a trashbag in a closet. Snelling, who had given birth alone, returned to the home that morning and was taken to the hospital by emergency officials and interviewed by police.
Then 21, Snelling was initially arrested and charged with concealing the birth of an infant, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. The manslaughter charge was added this week as part of the indictment.
At the time of the arrest, the Fayette County coroner was unable to determine a cause or manner of death for the infant without further testing. No gestational age was provided by the coroner’s office or police. Prosecutors held off on presenting the case to a grand jury while awaiting that information, officials said.
However, the Kentucky medical examiner’s office determined the baby was born alive and died of asphyxia, the Lexington Police Department announced Tuesday. It is unclear when the prosecutor’s office received the report or when Snelling’s case was presented to the grand jury.
Such proceedings are done in secret. Twelve people are selected to serve, and nine votes are needed in order to confirm charges. Of the charges considered, grand jurors determine which, if any, a person faces before their case goes to circuit court.
Indictment documents obtained Wednesday say a grand jury found Snelling committed manslaughter with the intent to cause serious physical injury to the infant.
The document says the circumstances of the baby’s death do not rise to a murder charge because Snelling acted under “extreme emotional disturbance.” That term is used to describe a specialized legal — rather than psychiatric — condition that implies a person acted without reasonable self-control.
The law does not require Snelling to undergo any type of psychiatric evaluation to prove a claim of extreme emotional disturbance, according to Fayette commonwealth’s attorney Kimberly Baird. The indictment document does not indicate Snelling has undergone such an evaluation.
“She intentionally abused the infant and thereby caused death to a person twelve (12) years of age or less, or who is physically helpless or mentally helpless,” it reads.
The indictment does not indicate how she harmed the infant.
Her arrest citation, previously made public, says Snelling told police she gave birth in her bedroom around 4 a.m. that morning, and the baby fell to the floor.
“She didn’t think the baby was breathing or was alive,” police said wrote in the citation.
About 30 minutes after giving birth, Snelling said she passed out and fell on top of the baby. When she woke up, Snelling said the baby was “turning blue and purple,” and she told police she wrapped him in a towel “like a burrito” and lay next to him on the floor “because it gave her a little comfort in the moment.”
Snelling “admitted to concealing the birth” by cleaning up evidence, placing cleaning items and the infant’s body, wrapped in a towel, inside a trash bag.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 2:27 PM.
