A former University of Kentucky student-athlete has been indicted on a first-degree manslaughter charge in connection with the death of her newborn, whose body was found inside a trash bag in a closet last year, officials said.
Snelling, 22, was indicted by a grand jury on Tuesday on several charges related to the August 2025 incident, including first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant, according to the Lexington Police Department. She was taken into custody at the Fayette County Detention Center on Thursday.
The former member of the university’s STUNT team was previously arrested on the same charges, except the charge of first-degree manslaughter, which was added by the convening grand jury.
Lexington police said Snelling hid her dead infant, found wrapped in a towel, inside a black trash bag in a closet.
Her attorney, Brandon Marshall, has not responded to a request for comment.
According to a press release from the city of Lexington, the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office determined “Infant Snelling was born alive and his cause of death to be asphyxia by undetermined means.”
Snelling was previously released on $100,000 bond, according to court documents shared with NBC News. The documents say she was placed on house arrest at her parents’ home in Jefferson City, Tennessee, about 200 miles from where she was arrested in Kentucky.
Snelling told officers that she had tried to conceal the evidence of giving birth from her roommates, according to a police citation. Snelling pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.
Preliminary autopsy reports for the child were “inconclusive” at the time of Snelling’s first arrest.
Snelling has withdrawn from school and is no longer on the STUNT team, according to NBC affiliate LEX 18. Her arraignment is set for April 10.
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