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Amy Roebuck
This is an iHeart podcast.
TJ Holmes
Guaranteed Human success starts with your drive and American Public University is here to fuel it.
Chelsea Handler
With affordable tuition and over 200 flexible online programs, APU helps you gain the skills and confidence to move forward.
TJ Holmes
Whether you're changing careers, starting fresh or pursuing a lifelong passion, APU's programs are designed for people who never stop.
Chelsea Handler
You bring the fire. Apu will fuel the journey. Learn more at apuapus.edu.
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support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index, and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures Are you
Amy Roebuck
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TJ Holmes
Hey there folks. It is Wednesday, March 11, and a grand jury thinks a college cheerleader should face manslaughter charges in the death of her newborn. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ Robes. I don't think I have seen a headline that didn't include the fact that she was a cheerleader. Right or wrong, she was. And that's just a fact of the case that is getting a lot of attention.
Chelsea Handler
Yes, we're talking about at the time she was 21 years old, Laken Snelling, a senior at the University of Kentucky. And yes, her cheerleading picture is everywhere because she looks like this All American girl at the University of Kentucky. How could she be capable of doing what prosecutors claim she did?
TJ Holmes
You know what? If you are haven't been following this story at all just right now, close your eyes and picture a University of Kentucky cheerleader. She probably comes to mind.
Chelsea Handler
Yes.
TJ Holmes
Right. She just fits that build. She looks like that. So I guess ropes. That was a part. A lot of the intrigue. But she was a senior. She was 21 years old. But I guess a lot of the details of this, of this, this crime now are certainly horrific. But the update we just got ropes, she was initially arrested, but she's been out. And we just got an update this week. They presented evidence to a grand jury.
Chelsea Handler
Yep. They gave the grand jury all of the evidence from the autopsy, the medical examiner, interviews with her roommates, and even interviews with her because initially she was charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. I didn't even know that was a crime. Concealing the birth of an inf. That seems.
TJ Holmes
I was going to ask you about that earlier.
Chelsea Handler
That seems so sad to me. I'm imagining. Look, I am not excusing anything that she is being charged with and certainly believe that if you take a life for whatever reason, you need to be able to have your day in court and explain yourself and face charges. But concealing the birth of an infant. I see a scared young girl who didn't know what to do and panicked. And I just. My heart breaks because this is just an awful situation all around. You think about this young girl who was living one life as a cheerleader, a college student, and was probably just unwilling to accept the reality of her situation and then panicked. So I didn't know you could be charged because you didn't let anyone know you gave birth. I didn't realize that was a crime.
TJ Holmes
You know what, it. Two things on this. One is I didn't realize it needed to be a crime.
Chelsea Handler
Yeah.
TJ Holmes
Quite. Quite frankly. And Rose, I think on the. From a practical standpoint. Yes. As a society, we what we document when people come into this world and we document when they leave.
Chelsea Handler
That's true.
TJ Holmes
And this is part of it. We can't just have some new human running around there that we don't know about. So, yes, I did. I was actually, I meant to ask you about that earlier because I had not heard of it.
Chelsea Handler
It's the first time I've ever seen that actually written down. And as I was reading it out loud, I thought, wow, this is a crime. But yes, as you point out, that does make sense. Once you are, you give birth to a. Another human being, that human being has to be acknowledged. It need. The. The birth needs to be recorded. It's your responsibility as a mom, as a parent to Document that you have just brought a human into the world. I guess it makes just never imagined that. So yes, those were the initial charges. She was arrested. She had a hearing. They again gave this case to a grand jury while she was put on house arrest. She was given a monitor. She has a monitor on her and was staying with her father, I believe. But now a grand jury has indicted her on first degree manslaughter charges. And so a new warrant for her arrest has been issued and she is now going to have to go through another sentencing or not. Excuse me. Another hearing next month to face this new, much more serious charge.
TJ Holmes
And this all stems from story last year. We did get into it and talk about it here on the podcast. But this was last year, last summer that authorities were first alerted and got a call about an unresponsive infant. Now this young lady at this apartment robes. They did not live on campus. We need to make that clear. So the apartment was not on campus but they got there and found yes, an unresponsive infant and I guess robes.
Chelsea Handler
The.
TJ Holmes
Yeah, it, it was clear that the baby wasn't just placed there. People. Somebody went through some effort to conceal maybe.
Chelsea Handler
Yes. And Lake and Snelling has officially talked to police but this all came to their. They became aware of the situation because her own roommates called 91 1. They. They said they heard noises, strange noises coming from her room. Then she left and they found this baby wrapped in a towel and then placed in a black trash bag. And they Lake and apparently had said she wasn't feeling well, that she was going to go to the school health center clinic. She did go to class and then she stopped by a McDonald's. I believe that's where they found her. And she was outside of the health clinic, but she never actually went in. And she basically pretty quickly admitted to police that she gave birth to the baby and that she thought the baby was alive but that she fell asleep on top of the baby. That is what her official statement is as to what happened to the child, that she was exhausted, she fell asleep on top of him. When she woke up, he was blue. This is what she's told police.
TJ Holmes
I mean she gets to have her say in her day in court. I mean. Yeah, I, I reserve until you hear from this young lady who's right now her life has just changed.
Chelsea Handler
Oh yes.
TJ Holmes
And so up to a jury. Is someone gonna hear gonna be sympathetic. They're gonna hear, as you say a young lady who was scared, she panicked and she did this thing or are they Going to hear something else about this young lady and how she behaved that led up to this. We don't know. And also, where's the dad in this?
Chelsea Handler
We. That's never once been talked about. I've never seen one article that at least even acknowledges that if, if someone even knew they were the father. That hasn't even been talked about in any article I've seen. But certainly, I imagine as this does eventually make its way into court, all of those questions will be asked. The grand jury was actually given options, I believe, of four levels of homicide. And, and they decided that manslaughter in the first degree was the charge that should come out. But they could have charged her with a, an array of different types of homicide charges. But based on the information they were given and they went through the whole process. A grand jury, of course, is done in secret, but this is an opportunity for the prosecution to put forth all of their evidence. In grand jury investigations, the defense does not actually even have a say. They're just trying to figure out if there is enough evidence to pursue further charges. And this grand jury thought there were. So this young lady, I believe she is now 22 years old, is now going to have to face first degree manslaughter charges in addition to the other charges that were already brought against her back in August when the baby was first found.
TJ Holmes
I don't, I don't know. I haven't checked to see what the, I guess what the prison time is
Chelsea Handler
for first degree manslaughter. I have to look that up. This is just a tough, tough situation. Something else that came out that I thought was interesting. Police have said that obviously when they go to investigate these sorts of things, they look at all the evidence they could possibly get. And a lot of evidence these days is on our phone. Correct. I mean, that's where I feel like so many crimes are solved or at least litigated because of evidence that's on your phone. And that is the case as well, because they say she deleted labor photos and evidence of the pregnancy from her phone. She deleted them. So she was trying to basically make it seem as though she was never pregnant and a baby was never born. And that is a part of the evidence that the grand jury was looking at when they came up with this determination to go forward with this more serious charge.
TJ Holmes
Well, yeah, that, that lends to a different theory about someone who is just panicked. That's a different theory. It sounds like someone who obviously, she knew she was pregnant. Maybe she didn't know until late, even if you give her that, I mean, robes suggest someone is trying to get away and certainly hide.
Chelsea Handler
Yes.
TJ Holmes
Crime.
Chelsea Handler
Yes. And that is what police believe and that is what a grand jury has decided as well. And look, I, I always just find these sorts of cases especially, especially we don't know when she knew she was pregnant, how long she knew she was pregnant. There are so many questions in this. She was a cheerleader, she was active, she was a, an athlete. So to be able to hide a pregnancy like this all the way up until the moment you give birth is something that I always have a hard time imagining having been pregnant twice in my life. The idea of being able to hide it, the idea of not knowing. And we see cases like this all the time of women literally not knowing they're pregnant, having pain and thinking what's going on? And suddenly a baby's there. We don't know at what point she realized she was pregnant. We don't have any of that information.
TJ Holmes
But stay here. We'll explain what she told police, according to police documents, about the death of her child and why she laid next to him. Stay here.
Chelsea Handler
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TJ Holmes
Success starts with your drive and American Public University is here to fuel it.
Chelsea Handler
With affordable tuition and over 200 flexible online programs, APU helps you gain the skills, skills and confidence to move forward.
TJ Holmes
Whether you're changing careers, starting fresh or pursuing a lifelong passion. APU's programs are designed for people who never stop.
Chelsea Handler
You bring the fire. APU will fuel the journey. Learn more at apu Apus Edu.
Public Investing Representative
Support for the show comes from public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now Generated Assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index, and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete Disclosures available at public.comDisclosures lost support
Amy Roebuck
through telehealth, but it feels overwhelming and rushed. Check out orderlymeds.com now. Orderlymeds.com was built to be different. Here you connect with real doctors who take the time to understand your goals, review your eligibility, and guide you through a plan that's right for you. Orderly Meds provides access to proven GLP1 medications like semaglutide and Tirzepatide, including both name brand options and personalized compound versions when appropriate. So you have choices backed by clinical oversight, not guesswork. It's a simpler, more supportive telehealth experience designed around people who want clarity, care and confidence in their weight loss journey. And your medication is delivered directly to your home in discreet packaging so your experience stays private from start to finish. Do your research, ask the right questions, then visit orderlymeds.com podcast for an exclusive offer. Again, that's orderlymeds.com podcast. Individual results may vary. Not medical advice. Eligibility required. See Cite for details.
Bowen Yang
This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Research with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel impossible. That's Premier Protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. Premier Protein empowers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite flavor@premierprotein.com that's P R E M I E R protein.com.
Chelsea Handler
Welcome back, everyone, to this episode of Amy and dj. We're updating a story we first told you about last summer. In August, upcoming incoming college senior at the University of Kentucky, a cheerleader, a stunt squad member, Lake and Snelling had been found with a newborn child in her closet, hidden, wrapped. The child had died, but upon further investigation, the autopsy showed that the child was born alive. Police had initially charged Lake and Snelling with some lesser degrees, lesser charges, but a grand jury this week has handed down a much more serious indictment against Snelling. They are charging her now with first degree manslaughter in the death of her newborn. Her roommates were the folks who first alerted police. They called 91 1. And the investigation has been going on now for months. And now this young woman is going to be facing a much more serious charge. You asked before the break just what the punishment is if you're found guilty of first degree manslaughter. And it's actually much more serious than I imagined. It's considered a class A felony. Basically, you are being charged for recklessly causing the death of another person and you can face a sentence of up to life in prison.
TJ Holmes
Yeah, I don't, I don't, I don't know, man. I don't know. What do you do here? There the child was born alive and the one person who had a decision to make about that child's life failed it. I don't know what the reasons were. I will be open minded to hear, but my goodness,
Chelsea Handler
it's, it's devastating. And this is a tough, tough, tough case. The medical examiner in Kentucky there determined, yes, that the baby was in fact born alive. And the cause of death was listed as asphyxia by undetermined means. And I think this will be a big deal when and if this does go to court, who knows, she could make a plea deal with prosecutors that would possibly be a way forward in this case. But if it does go to trial, certainly that undetermined means will be in question. Because from what we hear from Lake and Snelling, by all accounts, she didn't intend to kill her baby. She says she fell asleep on top of him, that she was awake for about 30 minutes. She did say she heard the baby. He. She said he. So it was a little boy. Make some whimpers. So she did acknowledge that the baby was born alive. That's of note. And the medical examiner also agreed with that. So she never has tried to say that the baby was still born and she didn't know what to do. She has admitted that the baby was born alive. It's what happened next that is they're
TJ Holmes
gonna fight about in court. Yes, she says she accidentally killed her child. Okay, If a jury determines that's the case, then it's a matter of her mistreating a corpse. But, but, babe, that is. That we are. That. That is the case. Did she kill this baby or not?
Chelsea Handler
And the problem is the only person who knows is Lake and Snelling. No one else was in the room. Her roommates, by all accounts, no one even knew she was pregnant. She. No one has come forward saying they knew she was pregnant, that she talked about her pregnancy, that she talked about being nervous about not knowing what to do. This came as a surprise to the girls who lived with her. And look, you live with a bunch of girls off been there, done that. It's hard to imagine that no one knew she had. She was nine months pregnant. That. That's a. That's a remarkable thing to me to even get my head around and then to only have reported hearing noises. Obviously they thought something strange was going on and they went into her room and they investigated and they found the baby. Wrapped up like a burrito, is how the baby was described in a trash bag in her closet. Now, she did say that she laid next to this baby to comfort the baby, correct? That was what she told police, that this was giving her comfort and that the death was purely accidental. So, look, we will have to wait and see what happens next. Again, she has a court hearing next month in April. Perhaps she'll say something, perhaps she won't. But her next arraignment is on April 10th. We will continue to follow this story, but it certainly is a sad one. And we certainly. You know, it's hard to say if this was an accident, if this was a panicked moment, certainly the COVID up after the fact. She's admitted to panicking and not knowing what to do. But this is just a heartbreaking story all around. And we just appreciate you listening to us update you on this latest information coming out of Kentucky. I'm Amy Roebuck alongside my partner, TJ Holmes. We will talk to you soon.
TJ Holmes
Success starts with your drive, and American Public University is here to fuel it.
Chelsea Handler
With affordable tuition and over 200 flexible online programs, APU helps you gain the skills and confidence to move forward.
TJ Holmes
Whether you're changing careers, starting fresh, or pursuing a lifelong passion, APU's programs are designed for people who never stop.
Chelsea Handler
You bring the fire. Apu will fuel the journey. Learn more at apu Apus Edu this is Chelsea Handler from Dear Chelsea after the Big Game like most people, I kept thinking about the commercials, and there was one that stayed with me. It was from the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate, and it wasn't loud or flashy. It showed a Jewish kid being targeted at school and another student who chose not to ignore it. As someone who was Jewish, that moment felt very real to me. Not dramatic, just familiar. And what struck me was how clearly it showed that hate doesn't always announce itself, but the impact is still huge. If you saw the Blue Square spot during the Big Game, it's worth thinking about. And if you want to show support, sharing the Blue Square is one small way to do that. At cvs, it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night. And we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit us@cvs.com or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.
Bowen Yang
This is Bowen Yang from Lost Culture Resource with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. We all know the feeling when life gets really busy. Taking care of yourself can feel imposs. That's why Premier protein shakes are my go to. They have 30 grams of protein, 160 calories, no added sugar, and they taste amazing. So they're a healthy choice you'll actually want to make. It's not just for fitness, it's for getting after life. Premier Protein powers me to say yes to more. Find your favorite flavor@premierprotein.com that's P R E M I E R protein.com
Amy Roebuck
Janice
Bowen Yang
Torres here and I'm Austin Henkiewicz. We host the podcast Mind the Small
TJ Holmes
Business Success Stories, produced by Ruby Studio
Bowen Yang
in partnership with Intuit QuickBooks.
Chelsea Handler
We're back for season four to talk
Amy Roebuck
to some incredible small business owners.
TJ Holmes
The big thing about working at tech is that it's ever evolving, ever changing. Everyone's a rookie. That's how fast the industry is changing.
Chelsea Handler
So what I'm really excited about is
TJ Holmes
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Bowen Yang
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TJ Holmes
Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Chelsea Handler
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present (iHeartPodcasts) | March 11, 2026
In this episode, Amy Robach and TJ Holmes delve into the troubling and high-profile case of Laken Snelling, a 22-year-old former University of Kentucky cheerleader, who has been indicted on first-degree manslaughter charges regarding the death of her newborn child. The hosts revisit the timeline of the case, break down the legal developments, and reflect on the wider societal and emotional ramifications.
Initial Charges and Developments:
Grand Jury Indictment:
Discovery of the Incident:
Snelling’s Account to Police:
Forensic and Digital Evidence:
The hosts highlight the bewilderment that none of Snelling’s roommates knew she was pregnant and reflect on the fear and isolation she must have felt.
Society’s Role:
On the Crime Itself and Its Tragedy:
On Concealing the Birth:
On the Emotional Toll:
The episode offers a sensitive exploration of a tragic and complex case, discussing not only the legal charges but also the emotional, ethical, and societal issues at play. The hosts provide factual updates alongside personal reflection—emphasizing the weight of the tragedy rather than sensationalism. Listeners are left with an understanding of the stakes, the unanswered questions, and the somber reality faced by all involved as the case progresses toward trial.