Snelling was arrested on Thursday in Fayette County, Kentucky, and has been under house arrest in her parents' Tennessee home since September, multiple reports indicate. She has not yet pleaded on the updated manslaughter charges and is set to be arraigned in court on April 10. If convicted, she faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the manslaughter charges, with an additional 11 years possible for the remaining counts.
According to multiple reports, Snelling allegedly left her baby in her closet after secretly giving birth. The body of her newborn son was discovered hidden in a closet in her off-campus apartment by her roommates, who found the baby dead in a blood-soaked towel on the floor, wrapped in a plastic bag. After giving birth, Snelling allegedly cleaned up the scene and left her home to go to McDonald's, and she was arrested when she returned to the apartment.
The Kentucky Medical Examiner's Office found that the baby was born alive but died from asphyxia, according to multiple reports. Snelling's roommates told police they believed she was concealing a pregnancy for some time and said they heard strange noises coming from her room during labor. In her first police interview, Snelling claimed the newborn was stillborn, and she described passing out on top of the baby and waking up to find him turning blue and purple, according to Daily Mail - News. Police said Snelling was believed by her friends to have been hiding her pregnancy before allegedly disposing of the newborn when she gave birth in August.
It remains unclear what specific evidence led to the manslaughter indictment beyond the medical examiner's report, and Snelling's current legal defense strategy for the manslaughter charges has not been disclosed. No other individuals have been charged or implicated in connection with the baby's death.