Former University of Kentucky cheerleader sentenced to 10 years in prison for infant's death.

Lee Snelling told the court she unexpectedly took him off oxygen after her baby arrived and revealed the emotional moment behind her guilty plea.

Former University of Kentucky cheerleader Leigh Snelling is on trial for the infant's murder.

Former University of Kentucky president Leigh Snelling was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in connection with the death of her son. Credit: WDKY

Laken Snelling, a former University of Kentucky cheerleader, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of her son, local media reported.

Snelling, who was charged in March with involuntary manslaughter and three other charges, pleaded guilty in August.

Officers with the Lexington Police Department arrested Snelling in August 2025 after his roommates heard loud noises coming from a closet. When officers arrived, they found the baby cold to the touch and wrapped in a garbage bag in a closet, the city of Lexington said in a statement.

Leigh Snelling, 22, a former University of Kentucky student, pleaded guilty in connection with the death of her baby, whose body was found inside a garbage bag in a closet. (Len Snelling/Facebook and Fayette Detention Center)

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The Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office determined the baby was born alive and died of suffocation, according to the Lexington statement. When Judge Diane Minifield asked Snelling how she ended the baby's life, she replied, "Deprived Manav of oxygen."

"I was under a lot of stress and my baby came unexpectedly," Snelling said through tears in court. "And instead of helping him, I ended his life and then cleaned up and didn't tell anyone."

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In addition to the manslaughter charge, Snelling pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of a baby.

Snelling, who was elderly at the time, told investigators she was awake for 30 minutes after giving birth, but then passed out on the baby.

When she woke up, she found the baby "turned blue and purple," according to court documents.

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According to court documents, investigators also found that Snelling had deleted her birth photos and other evidence of her pregnancy from her phone.

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