Overview
- Laken Snelling, 21, entered a not-guilty plea Friday during her arraignment on a first-degree manslaughter charge.
- Prosecutors sought the charge in March after the Kentucky Medical Examiner told a grand jury the baby was born alive with asphyxia listed as the cause of death by undetermined means.
- Police say roommates found the infant hidden in a trash bag in Snelling’s closet at an off-campus home, along with a blood-soaked towel and other signs of childbirth.
- Court records say Snelling gave differing accounts to police, including that she passed out on top of the baby and later placed the body and placenta in a bag before trying to clean the room.
- She is free on bond under house arrest at her father’s home in Tennessee, with a pretrial hearing set for May 14 and a status hearing on June 12, and she faces up to 20 years on the top count if convicted.