by I didn’t expect this to show up on my Bingo card until it did
According to WDKY-TV, in about a month, Lexington, Kentucky, will welcome its second Safe Haven Baby Box-in-a-wall at the new Masterson Fire Station.
The first box opened in January 2025 and has had no catches.
What Lexington did get, however, was Laken Snelling. (I wrote about the case here.)
The Backstory
Snelling, a member of the University of Kentucky STUNT team, gave birth alone in a sorority house bathroom on August 2, 2025. Instead of seeking assistance, she wrapped it in towels, stuffed it in a plastic bag that she hid in a closet, and drove off to McDonald’s. The preliminary autopsy was inconclusive, but months later the official report indicated the baby was suffocated and charged with first-degree manslaughter, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, and concealing the birth of an infant. In Augus 2026, she was convicted of all charges , and on October 16, in a plea deal, sentenced to 10 years in prison on the manslaughter charge, and consecutive 1- year of stints of community service for the lesser.
Unlike most neonaticide cases that fall off the news rotation in a day or so, this case received national and international coverage, probably because Snelling is an All-American blue-eyed blond college student from a “good family,” and with a “bright future.” Weird stories circulated. She was a bully. She’d recorded the birth on her phone. SHBB advocates set off a demand for additional boxes in Lexington, speculating sadly” if only there had been a box,..”
The news story, however, neglects to mention that the Lexington area already had 3 boxes in place with one reportedly only 10 minutes away from Snelling’s sorority house. I think I read one article suggesting that a SHBB should be installed on campus cuz ya know…
The Current Story
The Masterson story was pretty generic, but then came the interview with Rick Towner a local real estate agent (as far as I can tell), who headed up fundraising for the original box and now this one:
Towner says door-to-door fundraising, the Knights of Columbus and other community supporters have raised $21,600 for the project, covering the cost of Lexington’s second box and installation.
Followed later with:
He and other volunteers have distributed around 5,000 information cards, along with yard signs and banners at churches and college campuses. The materials explain Safe Haven options and provide information about nearby locations.
I am so skivved by this, and I’m a sure that other adapted people are, too. I’d like to be more articulate, but right now I can’t be. Lawn signs sprouting up in cul-de-sacs encouraging neighbors to abandon their secret babies in a hole in the wall? Trumpesque banners hanging from church facades? Did children go door-to-door with a can collecting dimes instead of candy. this Halloween? Can the babies and mothers who might fall into this blackhole scheme be more objectified? Exploited? Manipulated? Propagandized? This makes me sick.
As Gore Vidal wrote: “Commercialism is doing well that which should not be done at all.”
Poke the Bear 2026
Leave a Reply