By Meriam Bouarrouj, Joe Kottke, Dennis Romero, Austin Mullen and Matt Lavietes
A 21-year-old University of Kentucky athlete was arrested and accused of hiding her dead infant, wrapped in a towel, in a trash bag in a closet to conceal the recent birth, police said.
Laken Ashlee Snelling, who a university spokesperson said was a senior and a member of the competitive cheer stunt team, is expected to be charged with concealing the birth of an infant, tampering with physical evidence, and abuse of a corpse, according to a police citation.
She was arrested Sunday and booked into the Fayette County Detention Center, Lexington, Kentucky, police said in a statement. The 21-year-old has been charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant.
On Tuesday, Snelling was released on $100,000 bond, according to court documents shared with NBC News. The court documents state that she was placed on house arrest at her parents’ home in Jefferson City, Tennessee, roughly 200 miles from where she was arrested in Kentucky.
The 21-year-old appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon. She largely held her head down throughout the hearing, wearing a red dress and saying little to her attorney.
It’s not clear if Snelling has a lawyer. The state Department of Public Advocacy, which provides some defendants with legal representation, did not immediately respond to a request for information Monday night.
The Lexington police arrest citation for Snelling, obtained by NBC affiliate WLEX of Lexington, states officers were dispatched to her residence on Wednesday morning after receiving a report that a deceased infant was in a closet.
“Infant was located wrapped in a towel inside of a black trash bag,” the citation states.
Police said Snelling agreed to be interviewed and told officers she had given birth and tried to conceal evidence of the birth.
The Fayette County Coroner’s Office is investigating the infant’s cause of death, police said.