University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling case takes twist as activist reveals disturbing Safe Haven Baby Box detail

Laken Snelling, a 21-year-old former University of Kentucky cheerleader, was arrested in Lexington, Kentucky, on August 30, 2025. Police charged her with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. Just days before, on August 27, officers found a newborn baby dead inside a closet at her off-campus home. The baby was discovered after someone called 911 to report an unresponsive child. According to Fox 56 News, Lexington had opened its first Safe Haven Baby Box earlier this year, only 10 minutes from where Snelling lived.

Monica Kelsey says Safe Haven Baby Box near Laken Snelling’s home could have saved infant

Monica Kelsey, the founder of Safe Haven Baby Boxes, spoke out after the case. She explained that these boxes are built into fire stations or hospitals and allow parents to safely and anonymously leave a baby.

Each box locks from the outside after a child is placed inside, and staff inside the building can open the interior door to take the baby within minutes.


Kelsey told Fox 56 News, “What’s frustrating to me is that she didn’t choose something safe for her and her child. Now we have a dead infant, and we also have a mother that’s probably going to spend the rest of her life in prison. Both could have been avoided.”

Lexington’s first Safe Haven Baby Box was installed at Fire Station 2 earlier in 2025. Kelsey added that Snelling may not have even known the box was so close to her home.

She said, “We’re being reactive to a dead infant. I want to be proactive. I want people to know these boxes exist and that they work.”

Laken Snelling admits to giving birth and hiding baby in Lexington home closet

On the morning of August 27, 2025, around 10:30 a.m., police received a call from a third party about a baby at Snelling’s Lexington home. When officers arrived, they found the newborn wrapped in a towel and placed inside a black trash bag in a closet. The baby was described as “cold to the touch.”

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Laken Snelling later admitted to giving birth, cleaning up, and hiding the evidence. According to court records reported by People, she placed cleaning supplies and the infant inside the same trash bag.

At the time police entered the home, Snelling herself was not there. She was found five minutes away and later taken into custody.

Laken Snelling was booked on August 30 and appeared in court on September 2, where she pleaded not guilty. She was released the same day on a $100,000 bond. She is now on house arrest with her parents in Tennessee while awaiting her next court date on September 26.

A first autopsy of the infant came back inconclusive, and further tests are underway. Laken Snelling’s next court hearing on September 26 will address potential trial dates, bail conditions, community reaction, medical reports, and legal consequences.
Her ex-boyfriend, Izaiah Hall, has submitted a DNA sample to determine whether he is the father of the infant in Laken Snelling’s case.

As of Sept 26, 2025, she has now officially withdrawn from the University of Kentucky’s STUNT cheer program following her arrest.


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