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By Joshua Rhett Miller
Senior Reporter
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A University of Kentucky cheerleader charged with concealing the birth of an infant pleaded not guilty Tuesday, court documents show.
Laken Ashlee Snelling, a 21-year-old senior on the university's stunt team, entered the plea during her arraignment Tuesday afternoon. She had been released from custody Monday after posting $100,000 bond and being placed on house arrest to live with her parents, according to court documents obtained by Newsweek.
Snelling — who is facing charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant — was arrested after Lexington police responded to her residence Wednesday regarding a "deceased infant being located inside of a closet," an arrest report reads.
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"Infant was located wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag," according to the report. "The listed offender was mirandized and interviewed and admitted to giving birth."
Snelling also admitted to "concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence" and placing used cleaning items inside a black trash bag, which also contained the infant wrapped in a towel, police said.
"In the process of cleaning the evidence of the birth, the listed suspect tampered with said evidence that proved she had given birth," the report concludes. "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."
Police in Lexington announced Snelling's arrest on Sunday. Officers responded to a report of an unresponsive infant at a residence on August 27 and pronounced the child dead at the scene.
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The Fayette County Coroner's Office will determine the infant's cause of death.
Snelling's attorney, Brandon Marshall, did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday and attempts to reach the accused cheerleader were unsuccessful.
A University of Kentucky spokesperson confirmed to Newsweek Snelling is a senior at the school and a member of its Stunt Team, but declined to indicate whether officials had any indication she had been pregnant.
"We have no additional comment at this time as this matter is under investigation," spokesperson Jay Blanton said.
Social media accounts show Snelling, who majors in interdisciplinary disability studies, attended Jefferson County High School in Mississippi and previously competed in beauty pageants.
"There is a pageant for EVERYONE," Snelling wrote on Facebook in early June.
Snelling, originally from White Pine, Tennessee, also posted on TikTok in late June that she considered motherhood and marriage among her primary life goals.
"The goals are to be a mom but you MURDERED your chance to be one," one reply reads. "Anyone I mean any one would have taken that baby so you didn't murder it."
Snelling also posted photos of herself and her boyfriend on TikTok in June, with some observers claiming the intimate collection indicated she knew she was pregnant at the time.
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