Laken Snelling, 22, a former University of Kentucky cheerleader, has pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of her newborn son. Snelling changed her plea after initially entering a not guilty plea to several charges following her arrest last August.
Court documents reveal that Snelling admitted to concealing the birth and tampering with evidence. Crying in court, she told Judge Diane Minnifield, "I was under a lot of emotional stress and my baby came unexpectedly. And instead of helping him, I ended his life. And afterwards I cleaned up and didn’t tell anyone."
When asked by the judge how she ended the baby's life, Snelling responded, "I deprived him of oxygen." The judge accepted the plea.
As part of a plea agreement, Snelling also pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. She faces up to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter charge alone. A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for October.