Laken Snelling pleaded guilty Friday morning to first-degree manslaughter in connection with her infant son's death, a change from the not guilty plea she entered in April. The plea moves the case out of that earlier posture and leaves the court to decide the sentence and any remaining steps tied to the charge.
Laken Snelling and Park Avenue
The case began on Aug. 27, 2025, when Lexington Police officers were called around 10:30 a.m. to a residence in the 400 block of Park Avenue for an unresponsive infant. Officers found the infant and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office later determined the infant was born alive. The office also determined the cause of death was asphyxia by undetermined means, giving the prosecution a medical finding that matched the charge now resolved by Snelling's plea.
Kentucky Medical Examiner findings
First-degree manslaughter is a serious felony charge, and Snelling's guilty plea means the case no longer depends on a trial to establish responsibility for the infant's death. Instead, the court process now turns to the legal consequences that follow the plea under Kentucky procedure.
Snelling's shift from not guilty in April to guilty on Friday morning is the key change in the case. It also closes the gap between the police response on Park Avenue and the medical examiner's later findings, tying those events to the same criminal case.
The remaining question is what sentence or next court step follows the guilty plea. For now, the case rests on a completed plea, the medical findings, and the record of how police first encountered the infant in Lexington.
