Did Laken Snelling Know She Was Pregnant? Inside the Shocking Case of the Kentucky Cheerleader
Did Laken Snelling actually know she was pregnant? Let’s break down one of the most crucial aspects of the case.
Published Oct. 2 2025, 4:13 p.m. ET
The shocking case of University of Kentucky cheerleader Laken Snelling continues to make headlines, as the details of the alleged murder of her baby continue to unfold in court. New perspectives, evidence, and information have led to even more questions about the tragic incident than before.
However, one persistent question remains: Did Laken Snelling actually know she was pregnant? Let’s break down one of the most crucial aspects of the case.
Did Laken Snelling know she was pregnant?
Yes, per statements from Laken’s roommates provided to local authorities via court documents.
Per the New York Post, the University of Kentucky student’s roommates said they heard loud noises coming from Laken’s bedroom around the time she gave birth, which was on Aug. 27, 2025, at around 4 a.m.
They then said that they snuck into her room after she left to go to McDonald’s, and found a dead newborn buried inside Laken’s closet at the off-campus housing they all shared in Lexington.
The roommates were prompted to search her room because they believed that she was hiding her pregnancy and heard loud noises coming from her room the night of the incident.
A few hours later, Laken’s roommates said that she allegedly told them that the noises they heard were due to her falling over due to an undisclosed illness, according to the outlet.
Laken’s roommates alerted authorities after they found the infant corpse inside a bloody towel.
Four days after the infant was discovered, on Aug. 31, Laken was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant, according to People. She has pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
Per the affidavit from WLKY, Laken told local authorities that after she gave birth to the infant baby boy, he fell on her bedroom floor, but she lost consciousness 30 minutes after the baby was born.
Laken said that when she woke up, she saw her infant son “turning blue and purple,” and assumed that he was dead — which led her to wrap the infant up "like a burrito and laid it on the floor next to her because it gave her a little comfort in the moment,” the affidavit read.
She placed the baby in a blood-soaked towel and put her placenta in a black trash bag, before placing them both inside her closet, per the affidavit.
Following her arrest, Laken was transported for medical evaluation.
When she arrived at the hospital, Laken allegedly told medical staff that she "guessed" her infant son was still alive after hearing the baby “make a whimper, via the affidavit, per LEX 18.
Following her initial Sept. 2 court appearance, Laken was back in court on Sept. 26 and formally waived her right to a preliminary hearing, making way for her to be indicted by a grand jury, according to the outlet. Laken continues to remain on house arrest.