A Kentucky cheerleader accused of hiding her dead newborn child in a closet has dropped out of college just days after her arrest.
Laken Snelling, 21, was taken into custody on August 31 after police found her newborn son inside a trash bag in her closet in her Lexington home.
Snelling withdrew from the University of Kentucky, Jay Blanton, a school spokesperson, told the Lexington Herald Leader on Friday.
Blanton said the former college student ‘is no longer on the STUNT team.’ The junior competed on the STUNT team for three years, per an official team roster.
It is unclear when exactly Snelling withdrew from the university.
The infant’s autopsy came back inconclusive, but according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office, officials will conduct ‘extensive microcosmic analyses’ to determine the cause and manner of death.
‘I understand the community’s concern and sensitivity surrounding the death of a child. This death affects many lives in our neighboring state of Tennessee and as well as those in the Commonwealth,’ the autopsy report read.
‘We are currently conducting a thorough and methodical death investigation to ensure all facts are carefully considered.’
Laken Snelling, 21, the cheerleader accused of hiding her dead newborn child in a closet, unenrolled from the University of Kentucky
She is also no longer of member of the school’s STUNT team. Snelling was on the team for three years
Snelling was released on a $100,000 bond and ordered to home incarceration at her parents’ home in Jefferson City, Tennessee, NBC News reported.
She pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
Fayette County Coroner Gary W. Ginn told Daily Mail that further microscopic analyses would involve taking tissue from the infant to further study it. Ginn said the brain would also be looked at by a neuroscientist.
‘There’s a time frame that the tissue has to set before it can be examined just grossly as well as microscopically. So that adds time to our final autopsy report,’ the coroner said.
He added: ‘A lot of times when you look at the brain, as well as the bony structures, the skull, the dura mater, all those things with the naked eye when the autopsy is being performed, you might be able to see that there are injuries.
‘But until you look at the brain microscopically, you might look at the structures and not really think that there might be the injuries — that there could be internal hemorrhaging or something of that nature of the brain. So, it has to be looked at more microscopically than just grossly with the naked eye.’
Snelling, who was accompanied by her family, mostly kept her head down during the court appearance on Tuesday and nodded as the judge outlined her release conditions.
Her father was seen holding her hand as she walked out of the courtroom.
The cheerleader was seen looking to the floor and holding her father’s hand as she walked out of the courtroom last week
Police made the gruesome discovery after they were called to Snelling’s home for a report of ‘a deceased infant being located inside of a closet,’ officials said.
The baby was pronounced dead at the scene but a cause of death remains unclear pending an autopsy.
It’s not clear who called the police to report the alleged crime.
An arrest citation said the ‘infant was located wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag.’
‘By wrapping the infant in towels and placing it inside of a black trash bag, the listed suspect treated the corpse in a way that would outrage ordinary family sensibilities,’ the police report said.
Snelling admitted to concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence before hiding the supplies and the infant, who was wrapped in a towel, in a trash bag, according to the citation.
Images posted on social media in recent months also showed Snelling with what appeared to be a stomach bump
She pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant
The former student, who allegedly admitted to giving birth to the baby before her arrest, posted images in June where her boyfriend held her stomach, which appeared to have a visible bump.
Other images posted on social media in recent months also showed Snelling with what appeared to be a stomach bump.
However, it’s not clear if Snelling had announced a pregnancy to anyone.
Snelling’s next court appearance is scheduled for September 26.
