The athletic boyfriend of the cheerleader accused of discarding her newborn in a trash bag is a former star of college basketball, as revealed exclusively by the Daily Mail. 

Connor Jordan, 24, and Laken Snelling looked every bit the all-American couple in a loved-up photo shoot just months before her arrest. 

However, it remains unclear if he is the father of the deceased infant that Snelling allegedly wrapped in a towel before concealing it in a black trash bag and storing it in a closet at her off-campus residence near her college in Lexington, Kentucky. 

In one shot, they pose for a beaming selfie after recording a fun TikTok video in which they dance together and Jordan plants a kiss on her.

Both appear in the video, with the 21-year-old University of Kentucky cheerleader lip-syncing to Megan Moroney’s song Wonder and the lyrics ‘the right one came along’.

In another shot, the pair posed at a sports event at Knoxville Civic Auditorium with Shelling looking glam in a short pink dress.

Other social media shots, some of which have been taken down, show the ‘couple’ holding hands as they gaze adoringly at each other while walking through a field.

Both are in white, with Snelling appearing to have a slight stomach bump revealed under her full-length white dress. 

In another snap from the professional series, they are sitting together in the long grass, with Snelling in front of Jordan and leaning back to look into his eyes.

A third reveals Snelling clutching her beau’s arm, which is draped around her shoulder as the couple snuggle their faces close to each other.

The shots, believed to have been taken in June, are tagged ‘couplesphotography’ and were on Snelling’s social media before some vanished.

Jordan played guard for King University in Bristol, Tennessee, and the private Tusculum University in the same state. He comes from Morristown, Tennessee, a few miles from White Pine where Snelling was raised by parents Terry and Michelle, both 49.

It is unknown if the pair is currently in a relationship. Daily Mail reached out to Jordan, but he did not respond.

Snelling was released on $100,000 bond by a Fayette District Court judge on Tuesday, following her arrest on Saturday after police made the horrific discovery following a call.

She was ordered to live with her parents in home incarceration after denying charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and concealing the birth of an infant.

The university senior and member of the college’s competitive cheer ‘stunt team’ has ignited speculation, wild theories and occasional sympathy among internet sleuths.

Among the biggest discussion points has been the identity of the hunk in the photos, which were copied and circulated on the internet before they were taken down.

According to his Tusculum profile, Jordan majored in sports science with a minor in coaching. The 175lb player’s future plans were given as ‘become a certified athletic trainer or physical therapist.’

His hobbies are ‘traveling, gaming, shopping’ and his ‘advice to kids’ is: ‘Find your personal meaning of success and happiness and find ways to fulfill those every day’.

Daily Mail has already exclusively revealed another break in Snelling’s immaculate all-American facade with accusations that she was an ‘appearance-obsessed serial bully’ at school.

She is even accused of once trying to run down a fellow student with a Jeep and being so mean that others transferred to different schools to get away from her.

Former fellow high school student Sydney Kite, now 20, told us: ‘I don’t know the circumstances of what is alleged to have happened over the baby.

‘However, I do know that Laken had many, many people that she took her personal anger out on. My sister was one of them.

‘While in high school, she tried to run over one of my closest friends with her Jeep. The bullying got so bad my friend had to be pulled out of school and transferred to another because Laken had taken it so far.

‘Even after my friend left, Laken then kept it up with cyberbullying with text messages.

‘There were other individuals who had to transfer to get away from her. And after they did that, she would continue to message them and make TikToks and social media posts about them as well.’

Daily Mail emails and phone calls to Snelling and members of her family asking for comment on the accusations were not returned.

Snelling and Kite attended the same elementary school and middle school in White Pine and high school in nearby Jefferson. Kite was a year younger but her sister was in the same grade as the accused cheerleader.

‘If you didn’t have a certain amount of money or a certain amount of popularity, then you weren’t really in Laken’s circle,’ said Kite, who has a baby daughter with partner Kenyon Biggs in Newport, Tennessee.

‘She was obsessed with her appearance, very obsessed with being popular and fitting in. She was always obsessed with being very thin, with wearing tight-fitting clothes. She wanted a lot of attention.

‘She would bully my sister and her friends in the bathroom at school. She would just corner them. There were talks with teachers about her behavior, but nothing led to her stopping doing it.

‘I know my mother reported it to the school, and Laken and I had our own interaction. I cornered her in the bathroom and told her to stop messing with my sister while we were in middle school, say eighth grade.

‘She didn’t like it when people stood up to her, which is why she would go after the kids she saw as weaker. I wasn’t the sort of person to sit there and be bullied.’

Others on social media have backed Kite’s story.

Jennifer Ricker wrote on Facebook: ‘I know this girl… she is a bully! Always treated my kids like trash in school and MANY others.

‘She attempted to run over one of the students and that student left school and moved schools because of HER!

‘She has never been held accountable for anything she does.’

An anonymous author in a Facebook discussion group wrote: ‘I attended her school. I didn’t know her personally but everyone knew she was the mean girl.’

Snelling appeared somber at her short court appearance, despite wearing a glamorous bright pink dress and makeup. She spoke only briefly to agree with the judge’s order.

Father Terry, a construction company supervisor from Jefferson City, held her hand as they walked outside the courtroom.

Snelling does not have to wear an ankle monitor during her home incarceration, in which she must ‘live with parents’ according to a court document seen by local TV station LEX18.

However, her mother, Michelle, has a different address from her father and is listed as owning a property in Morristown, Tennessee, according to records. 

Snelling ‘admitted to giving birth,’ during questioning over the horror find on August 27, according to a police report.

She confessed to ‘concealing the birth by cleaning any evidence, placing all cleaning items used inside of a black trash bag including the infant who was wrapped in a towel,’ her arrest citation reads.

Cops made the discovery after being called to the home over a report of a ‘deceased infant being located inside of a closet’. It is not known who made the call.

The cause of death is being reviewed by the Fayette County Coroner’s Office. ‘Extensive microscopic analyses are essential to determine,’ it says in a report from the office seen by LEX 18. 

It adds: ‘We are currently conducting a thorough and methodical death investigation to ensure all facts are carefully considered.’

Ironically, Snelling’s last TikTok post of June 25 she included an emoji of a mother holding a baby under her list of ‘goals’ beside a wedding ring and cash.

And in a bizarre twist to the story, Daily Mail can reveal she joined a Facebook group last year that organizes babysitters in the Lexington area. She was included in a ‘let’s welcome our new members’ announcement on November 25.

The horror happened in a state where a near-total abortion ban has been in place since 2022, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

Abortions are only allowed to prevent the ‘substantial risk of death; or to prevent ‘the serious, permanent impairment or a life-sustaining organ’ of a pregnant woman or girl.

Some social media comments have highlighted the abortion ban, while others have pointed out the existence of safe haven baby boxes, where newborn children can be handed in anonymously.

Snelling is due to appear in court again on September 26.

Her university confirmed she has been a member of its ‘stunt team for the last three seasons’. It added in a statement to local TV station LEX18: ‘All other questions should be directed to Lexington Police.’