Former University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader Laken Snelling dressed up as an expectant mother for Halloween less than a year before she allegedly gave birth to a baby and hid it in a closet.

Snelling, 21, wore a “Kentucky Mom” pin and used a fake baby bump for the costume last year, which was captured by TikToker Abby Blabby and viewed by Us Weekly in a since-deleted video posted by the University of Kentucky STUNT team. 

In the video, Snelling is asked if she’d rather “spend the night in a haunted house or a creepy cemetery?”

“Haunted house,” Snelling said with a smile, while holding her faux baby bump. 

Snelling was arrested on August 30 at her home in Lexington, Kentucky, and charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.

Authorities were initially called to the scene on August 27 after receiving a call about an unresponsive infant. 

According to an arrest citation, Snelling “admitted to giving birth” and to “concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside of a black trash bag, including the infant, who was wrapped in a towel.”

Snelling pleaded not guilty to all charges during an appearance inside a Lexington courtroom on September 2. She posted a $100,000 bond and is now living on “home incarceration with no ankle monitor” with her parents in Tennessee.

A spokesperson for the Lexington Police Department told Us Weekly on Monday, September 9 that the death investigation remains “ongoing.”

The infant’s cause of death was ruled inconclusive according to a report from the Fayette County Coroner’s Office obtained by Us on Thursday, September 4.

Snelling competed for the last three seasons on the University of Kentucky’s STUNT team.

Related: Autopsy Results of Kentucky Cheerleader Laken Snelling‘s Baby Explained

An expert pathologist helped explain the inconclusive autopsy results surrounding the death of former University of Kentucky competitive cheerleader Laken Snelling’s baby. The death of Snelling’s infant, who was found stuffed into a trash bag in Snelling’s closet last week, was ruled inconclusive and “extensive microscopic analyses are essential to determine the cause and manner […]

According to USA Cheer, STUNT “removes the crowd-leading element and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling. These elements are put together in short routines that both teams must perform head-to-head on the floor at the same time.”

A spokesperson for the University of Kentucky told Us on Friday, September 5 that Snelling is no longer a student at the school and no longer a member of the STUNT team.

In a video shared on YouTube in April, Snelling can be seen competing at the 2025 STUNT National Championship, just months before she allegedly gave birth.

Snelling’s preliminary court hearing is scheduled for September 26.