Shocking DNA twist emerges in case of cheerleader whose baby was found dead in trash bag
Laken Snelling reportedly stuffed the body of her newborn baby in a trash bag and hid the evidence in a closet
A shocking DNA twist has emerged in the case of a cheerleader who has been charged with dumping her newborn baby.
Laken Snelling, a University of Kentucky cheerleader, was arrested on August 30 after cops were called to reports of an 'unresponsive infant.'
Officers then made the grim discovery of a dead newborn 'wrapped in a towel inside a black trash bag' and concealed in a closet in Snelling's off-campus room in Lexington, according to a police report.
It has since been determined Snelling, who was studying Interdisciplinary Disability Studies at the college, is the child's mother.
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The 21-year-old from White Pine, Tennessee, has since been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
Now, the ex-boyfriend of the college cheerleader is reportedly seeking a DNA test to see if he is the father of the deceased child, reports Daily Mail.
Izaiah Hall reportedly dated Snelling before she started a new relationship with former basketball star at King University, Tusculum University and Lincoln Memorial University, Jordon Connor, according to the outlet.
The couple’s relationship was documented via various images and clips uploaded to social media, which included snaps of the pair posing together.
Snelling had also documented her romance with 20-year-old Hall, who had become a freshman in 2024 at the Cumberland University in Lebanon, near Nashville.
In a shocking twist, Hall's family have now confirmed he has had a DNA sample taken to determine if the baby boy was his.
His father, Justin Smith, told the outlet from his Tennessee home: "There's a DNA test, it's already underway. Izaiah's done this to find out if he was the father."
The 45-year-old added: "I'm not sure when we'll get the results. We've been told it could be a couple of weeks."
The outlet also reports Snelling dated the quarterback, though Hall's father refused to confirm when the pair split.
"I don't really want to go into any more detail at this stage," he said.
Snelling allegedly 'admitted to giving birth' during questioning and said she had covered it up by cleaning up and removing all evidence inside the trash bag with the infant, the arrest report added.
Cops said the baby was pronounced dead at the scene. A cause of death report by Fayette County Coroner’s Office initially determined the autopsy as inconclusive, adding it will now conduct 'extensive microcosmic analyses' to determine how he passed.
After pleading not guilty to the charges, the cheerleader was released on a $100,000 bond by a Fayette District Court judge on Tuesday (September 2), just three days after her arrest.
The young woman has been ordered to live with her parents until her next court appearance on September 26.
Prior to her arrest, Snelling, who was a member of the university's competitive cheerleading STUNT team, had made a post on TikTok including her aspirations for the year.
In the video was a number of emojis showing an engagement ring, a house, money, and a picture of a woman bottle-feeding a baby, implying that she wanted to have a baby.
UNILAD has contacted Lexington Police Department for comment.
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