Laken Snelling Grand Jury Date Set for Former Beauty Queen

A date has been set for a grand jury to hear evidence in the Laken Snelling case and determine whether or not to indict the former small-town beauty queen and University of Kentucky cheerleader.

The 22-year-old is accused of giving birth in the bedroom of her off-campus residence in Lexington, Ky., and then putting the baby in a trash bag that she hid inside her closet.

Snelling waived her right to a preliminary hearing during a Sept. 26 court appearance, thus sending her case to a grand jury.

There have been few updates in the case since that time, but a subpoena filed in the case and obtained by PEOPLE reveals that a grand jury will hear evidence in the case in late January.

That filing, which was submitted in Fayette Circuit Court on Dec. 22 by Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Jessica Hutchins, is seeking records from the University of Kentucky Medical Center.

That is the facility that treated Snelling hours after she allegedly gave birth on Aug. 27, “to a baby which fell onto the floor of her bedroom,” according to a search warrant affidavit previously obtained by PEOPLE.

That statement about the birth was allegedly made at the school’s medical facility during one of Snelling’s hospital bed interviews with members of the Lexington Police Department.

Snelling allegedly admitted to giving birth in the middle of the night, falling asleep on the newborn,  wrapping the baby in a towel and putting it in a trash bag along with her placenta, according to the affidavit.

She then cleaned up the room before heading out to attend class less than six hours after giving birth, the affidavit alleged. 

Snelling, who was a University of Kentucky student at the time, never made it to class and chose instead to get McDonald’s and return home, where she was greeted by local police.

Her roommates had contacted law enforcement after hearing noises coming from her room in the middle of the night and then discovering blood in her room that morning, according to the affidavit.

When officers arrived at the home, they checked the closet and discovered the dead baby.

Snelling was subsequently arrested and a few days later on Sept. 2, she made her initial court appearance where she pleaded not guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.

She was released on a $100,000 surety bond and was allowed to leave the state to spend her pre-trial period under house arrest at both her mother and father’s homes in Tennessee.

Those conditions were then modified by the judge in late October for reasons that are still unclear.

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Judge Melissa Moore Murphy announced in a court filing that Snelling would only be permitted to stay at her father’s residence and would have to wear an electronic monitor at all times, according to court documents previously obtained by PEOPLE.

The grand jury will likely be asked to indict Snelling on the three charges she initially pleaded not guilty to during her initial court appearance in September — and possibly a count of murder or manslaughter depending on the newborn’s autopsy results.

The initial autopsy was inconclusive in determining cause and manner of death, and the Fayette County Coroner’s Office and Office of the State Medical Examiner have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.