Cheerleader Wipes Tears as She's LOCKED UP in Baby's Trash Death

That is why I'm standing here for you today. I'm speaking not only as a grieving grandparent, but as someone who wants Kate's life and certain instances of his death to be taken without any interruption. For the first time, we hear from the family of the father of the baby Lakin Snelling gave birth to and let die before hiding his body in an apartment closet. This is a crime of violence. Today, the former college cheerleader was sentenced. The strong words the judge had for her and just how long Lakin Snelling will spend behind bars. We're on the case presented by Law and Crime. I'm Chris Stewart. One of the people who made a victim impact statement today at Lakin Snelling sentencing said something that resonated with me as we've covered this case for more than a year. Kate didn't deserve this and he should still be here. We never even met. We never knew about Kate until he was already gone over a year's worth of reading article after article. Everyone's saying someone's name, but not the most important thing of all, which is Kate. Kate, that is the name of the baby who lived such a short life and was not given a shot in this world the moment that he was born because of what his mom did. Today, Kate's family humanized him. They tried to be his voice as his mom got sent away for what she did in August of 2025 at her off-campus house in Lexington, Kentucky. Now, before we get into what was said in court today, what the sentence looks like for Lakin Snelling, I do want to quickly talk about how we got to this point. I want to go back to August 27, 2025, just about 1030 in the morning when police were called to that off-campus home where Lakin Snelling lived with her classmates. And those roommates called police because they found a baby boy wrapped in a towel inside of a trash bag in a closet. The newborn was dead. Snelling wasn't home. But when she got back, police say she admitted that she gave birth to this child. Snelling was 21 years old. She went to the University of Kentucky. She was a member of the stunt cheerleading team there, which is like a team that does a lot of like high-flying cheerleading tricks. We actually have video of her performing in April of 2025 when she was pregnant with this baby boy. And it appears that Lakin Snelling didn't tell anyone that she was expecting this child. Court documents state that Lakin Snelling told police that she gave birth around four o'clock in the morning on the 27th. She told police that after she gave birth, she laid on the ground next to this child in what she called a moment of comfort. She then wrapped him like a burrito. She first told police that she did not think the baby was breathing or alive. Now, Snelling woke up later that morning, and she put that baby's body in a towel, in a trash bag, and then placed him in her closet. She cleaned up the blood with paper towels, police say. She put the placenta in a Ziploc bag, and she left. She said she was going to go to class, but decided not to go in. Instead, she ordered McDonald's on the McDonald's app. Her roommates, though, had texted each other overnight that around the time that Lakin Snelling gave birth, they heard something, fall. And another roommate said that they heard noises for about an hour. So when Snelling got up that morning and left, they went into her room, and that's when they discovered the baby boy, who we will call Cade, because that was his name. Lakin Snelling told police that she didn't think the baby was breathing, but then she went to the hospital, and court records say that she told doctors that the baby displayed a little bit of a fetal movement, and the baby made a, quote, guessed the baby was alive, which is different than what she had told police, according to court records. Lakin Snelling was arrested, then a grand jury indicted her on a charge of first-degree manslaughter in March of this year. In August, she pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. Today, at her sentencing, Snelling didn't say anything. Her attorney said that with all the evidence she had, she was guilty to add fuel to the fire. They also said they had a lot of people who wrote letters of support for Lakin Snelling, but they didn't submit those because they were worried that people would be upset if their identity got out, that they had penned a letter in support of Lakin Snelling, but her attorneys did say that she was deeply sorry for what she did. Now, Snelling did not say much today in court, but she did address the court when she pleaded guilty in August, and here's what she said back then. Tell me what you get. I was under a lot of emotional distress, and my baby came unexpectedly. And instead of helping him, I ended his life. And afterwards, I cleaned up and didn't tell him. Okay. So tell me when you say instead of helping him, you did what? I ended his life. How did you end his life, Neal? I deprived him of oxygen. Okay. All right. And did you tell me about this tampering with physical evidence? What did you do with the evidence that could have been collected? I put the towels in a plastic bag. Okay. Today, for the first time, we also heard from baby Cade's family, including the baby's father. His name is Isaiah, and this is what he had to say. Tell me what you would like this court to know. Um, I didn't really have anything to say, to be honest. Uh, I don't wish the worst on Lakin. Um. What happened, it is what it is, I can't change it, my family can't change it, it hurts so much that it explains still a lot of questions, um, but I didn't say kill me with anything to say. Then a woman took to the microphone who said that she was Cade's grandmother. Your honor, as I stand before you today, as her grandmother grieving the loss of my precious grandmother, we're no one strong enough to describe the heartbreak that my family has had to experience since August 25th, 2025. Because my Cade was a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby boy. The baby who has barely begun his life, a baby who deserves a chance to grow, to be loved, to be capable, she would experience all the wonderful things this world should have offered to him. As a grandparent, imagine the memories you'll make with your grandchildren. You imagine birthdays, holidays, first steps, first words, laughter, hugs, kisses, and all the little moments that have become lifelong memories. You look forward to watching them grow and seeing the person they've become. Forget it for Cade, those possibilities were taken away before you ever had the chance to experience them. Instead of celebrating his milestones, we're left with the milestones that were never met. Instead of watching him grow, we're left hungry, we really want to pick up. Instead of making memories with him, we're holding on to a few moments we had with him before this year. There's a special heartbreak. Knowing that if a child who should have had an entire life calling it, he won't ever get that chance. The loss of Cade has changed our family. Grief is on hand, but the fuel is over. It does not disappear stupidly because time passes. It follows each of us into our everyday lives. In the fancy gatherings. And in the hallmarks of our line of differences. And in the fake voice you should still be here with us. We must learn to live with an influence that should never have existed. One of the farthest parts of this loss is knowing that Cade cannot speak for himself and cannot tell this court what happened to him. He cannot ask for justice or explain to his wife he should have been allowed out of the room. That is why I'm so grateful to Cade. I'm so grateful to Cade. I'm so grateful to him. That's why I'm standing here before you today. I'm speaking not only as a grieving grandparent, but as someone who wants Cade's life and the circumstances of his death to be taken with utmost consideration. I ask that accountability be at the center of this sentencing. No sentence can undo what happened. Take away your pain, but will give him the life and future he deserves. But the fact that nothing you bring can do anything to him. He deserved protection, unconditional love, and the opportunity to grow and flourish. His life was not insignificant because he was an unborn. His age does not make our grief less painful, and the shortness of his life does not make his loss any less devastating. I know that when I leave this courtroom, I will still be a grandparent grieving a grandson that my family and I are sure to have more time with. Our family will still have a unique place where Kate should have been. We will still have questions, heartbreak, and a future that looks different from the one that we imagined. I give you that. I cannot change what happened to Kate, but I'm here today to make sure that his name is spoken, his life is acknowledged, and the loss of his life, the loss of his life is not reduced. Kate deserves to be reversed. Then another woman who said she was a grandparent of this baby stepped up and made an emotional statement to the court. Kate would have been my firstborn baby. And, um. Going through the last year and two months, almost two months, has been devastating. Um, not only for me, but for my family. Having to wonder, essentially, what's going to become of your son, um, when devastation kicks in, or when he decides to start a family, if it's going to affect him in ways that he could never imagine, as my son, that worries me. Um. Knowing that other people speak about their grandchildren, the amazing experiences they have, and the only experience that we were able to get from this was burying Kate, picking out his outfit to bury him in, giving him a kiss before we buried him for his first birthday. We didn't celebrate. We had to go have a memorial at his gravesite. And, um. It's hard, I mean, I understand that there's no, it's just a tragedy. It is just a tragedy. And hopefully we can start to heal, you know, from today. I appreciate you all being here and the comments you've shared. Okay. Yes. All right. So, um. So, actually, um. I, I just would like to say this. It, despite everything that's happened, not even receiving the salary has made a big difference. Um. Like Robin said, Kate will always be recovered because of the family that wanted him, family that loved him, and family that looked forward to. Um, taking him in with love and doing things that we should have been able to do, granted to do. So, this was a, um, and then it was a tragedy, uh, and it just, it's not fair. So, um, saying all that to say, I, I, I hope that accountability is taken, I hope that consequences are rendered. And I hope that, um, I hope that we can fill it just as it's been served to some extent. Then baby Kate's aunt, the sister of the baby's dad, said that their family would have taken this boy in, but they were never given the chance. There were no diapers, no wipes, no clothes, no bottles, no passies, and no prenatal care. No plans to keep him. Kate's innocent life taken for selfish reasons. What those may have been, we will never forget. We will never forget. Thank you. never know. Knowing the family that we are, we would have taken him with zero questions and we could have just went about your life however we planned. Cade's life does exist. His life matters to us. The constant little reminder will be proof of that. We have been so silent for so long and now it's finally our time to stand up and be a voice for Cade. A lifetime of memories that we should have been making with him, celebrating his first birthday, his first word, his first smile and laugh. But no, we do not get that. We will always have questions that we will continue to ask ourselves that we will never get answers to. Instead, we have to go to this grave and continue to grieve this unimaginable loss every single day. Our family has suffered and continues to suffer daily since we got the news about Cade on 8-27-2025, the day he was born, alive and perfect. We are so grateful for Cade. And also the day he was murdered. Cade didn't deserve this and he should still be here. We never even knew about Cade until he was already gone. Over a year's worth of reading article after article, everyone saying someone's name, but not the most important thing of all, which is Cade. The slander of all the things said about my brother and yet he has stayed quiet for his son. The pain he has to live with, that we all have to live without the most beautiful boy here, the emptiness without Cade if you're with us, is unfathomable. We love Cade and miss him every single day. We will continue to make his grave so incredibly beautiful to show he is loved and cared for. If only we had gotten to show him all the love and care while he was alive. Our family will continue to be together, to be a voice for Cade. He was not garbage. He was the most beautiful, perfect, innocent, full-time baby boy. We love and miss him. It is hard even now to understand what motive there was behind what Lake and Snelling did to this boy. Why she would hide this pregnancy, why she would put the boy in the closet and then just leave and carry on with her life as police have laid out. The judge spoke for about four minutes to Lake and Snelling and she laid out why Lake and Snelling needs to serve time in prison for what she did. She called what Lake and Snelling did violent. Thank you all so much for expressing your opinions and your grief. It's obvious. It's obvious. Thank you. Miss Snelling, you're 22 years old, is that correct? You don't have any prior felony contact with the board. You've got 415 custody credit days at the time of this report coming from house arrest. You're single. You have birthed one child, but you technically have never had a child that you cared for. You've completed or did you complete the third year of college or were you in your third year of college? I completed my third year. You completed. You're unemployed. You're still unemployed. You was raised in a pretty stable home. You indicated your mom was strict and had some expectations and rules. Your sister ended up living with her father, but you stayed with your mom and that your father early on had some substance issues with some prescriptions, but you know that passed and your parents, ultimately divorced. But, you know, a decision that you've made is a decision made by you. It really has nothing to do with the home you were raised in, you know, and sometimes we make choices and decisions and there's a consequence for each of those, you know, and sometimes those choices and consequences affect our future for the rest of our lives. And you've made a decision that has affected not only your future, but the future of all of Kay's, you know, biological paternal side. You know, there's a whole lot of people whose lives has been affected and has been turned inside out based on the choice that you made. And you named the baby, is it McCoy? It's McCoy Kay. McCoy Kay Hall. Yes, ma'am. It's father's last name? Yes, ma'am. Okay. And, um, you have a good relationship with your family. You haven't really had any mental or physical issues. Um, you now have some depression and things like that that you're dealing with and you're on some medications that you're dealing with that, um, and some anxiety. You see your therapist. Um, you grew up without any real issues of suicide, but since this whole incident occurred, you indicated that you've had some thoughts of suicide. Yes, ma'am. And, um, you haven't had any issues with substance or anything like that. You're low risk, but based on the nature of this charge, you're not even probation eligible to be considered. You know, this is a crime of violence. This is a crime that, um, took the life, you know, of a baby innocent that had no. You know, did nothing, you know, did nothing but come out and breathe and that's it. And so, um, you pled guilty to the Commonwealth's recommendation, uh, 10 years on count one, one year abuse of a corpse on count two and one year, on count three tampering with fiscal evidence and 12 months on concealing the birth of an infant. I'm going to run these all concurrently for a total sentence of 10 years in order that you serve the 10 years in the custody of the Department of Justice. You know, so you will be remanded into custody today to begin your service. And, you know, you're going to have a lot of time. You know, you're young. You're 22 years old. You're going to have a lot of life. This family of Kate is going to have a lot of life ahead of them. But this hole will never, ever go away. This loneliness, this just nap in the pit of your stomach, it's never going to go away. You're going to have to find ways to live with it. And all of that's only going to come by God, you know, to figure out how you're going to move on. And I wish you the best. And we're remanding you to custody to start your sentence, 10 years. Thank you. And with that, Lakin Snelling was taken into custody of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and she will be 32 years old, 10 years from now. When she gets out of prison, that will be in 2036. That will do it for On the Case, presented by Law & Crime. I'm Chris Stewart. We'll see you next time. Thank you.