Police say the 34-year-old mother fatally shot her 11-year-old daughter during a cheer competition trip before taking her own life.
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A Utah mother and her 11-year-old daughter were found dead Sunday inside a room at the Rio Hotel & Casino after the girl failed to appear for a cheer competition, and police said the mother shot the child before killing herself.
The deaths quickly drew attention in Las Vegas and Utah because the pair had traveled for a national cheer event and were reported missing when they did not show up Sunday. Investigators have called the case a murder-suicide, but several details, including a motive and the full contents of a note found in the room, had not been released. The case also reverberated through the competitive cheer world, where coaches, teammates and families were gathered for the final day of competition.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said the case began as a welfare check. At about 10:43 a.m. Sunday, officers were asked to check on a mother and daughter staying in the 3700 block of West Flamingo Road, the block where the Rio stands. Officers and hotel security knocked on the door and called the room several times but got no response. Police later said there was no reason at that point to believe either person was in danger, so officers cleared the call. Hours later, as worried family members and friends kept reaching out, hotel security returned. At about 2:27 p.m., security staff entered the room and found the two females unresponsive. Lt. Robert Price of the police department said investigators believe that sometime Saturday night, the mother shot her daughter and then shot herself. Friends and relatives had already begun circulating missing-person flyers online, saying the pair had last been seen around 8 p.m. Saturday at New York-New York Hotel & Casino.
The Clark County coroner later identified the dead as 34-year-old Tawnia McGeehan and 11-year-old Addilyn Smith, both of West Jordan, Utah. The coroner ruled McGeehan’s death a suicide. The formal cause and manner of death for Addilyn, who was widely known as Addi, were still pending in early reports even as police said the evidence at the scene pointed to the mother shooting the child first. Investigators also said a note was found, but Price told reporters he could not discuss what it said. Police said nobody in nearby rooms reported hearing arguing, fighting or gunshots before the bodies were discovered. That left major questions unanswered about exactly when the shooting happened and why no one nearby realized something was wrong. The mother and daughter had traveled to Las Vegas for what police described as a dance or cheer competition. Addi’s team, Utah Xtreme Cheer, had posted competition updates the day before, showing the trip had begun as a normal weekend event.
The broader context stretched well beyond the hotel room. Addi was in Las Vegas for a JAMZ nationals event held at Orleans Arena, one of several large cheer and dance competitions that bring teams from around the West to southern Nevada in February. Coaches said concern rose Sunday morning when she did not arrive for her scheduled appearance. Utah Xtreme Cheer then posted an urgent message saying one of its athletes and her mother were missing and that police had been contacted. After the deaths were confirmed, the gym said it was “completely heartbroken” and described Addi as deeply loved and a lasting part of the program. Local Utah outlets reported that she had competed with a small team of young athletes and had also cheered previously with another gym. Former and current coaches remembered her as eager, versatile and smiling. By Monday, the loss had spread through multiple gyms, with condolence messages coming from other teams, gym owners and families who knew the girl only through competitions.
Records that surfaced after the killings added another layer to the story, though they did not establish a direct explanation for what happened in Las Vegas. Utah court records reviewed by local news outlets showed McGeehan had been involved in a long custody fight with Addi’s father in the years after their divorce. The records included disputes over visitation, accusations of custodial interference and other legal conflict dating back several years. One report said the custody case was not resolved until 2024, when a court order gave the parents joint custody. Another report said McGeehan had faced several misdemeanor cases tied to the conflict, with outcomes that included dismissals, reduced charges and plea agreements. Public records also showed overdue child support on the father’s side in later filings. None of those court records, however, gave investigators a publicly stated motive for the shooting. Police have said only that the homicide investigation remained open while detectives continued to examine evidence, reconstruct the timeline and interview people connected to the mother and daughter.
What came next was both procedural and deeply public. The police department released a formal statement saying homicide detectives had taken over the case after patrol officers and medical personnel responded to the room. The coroner’s office handled the identification and death rulings. In Utah, relatives and supporters organized funeral plans and fundraising for Addi’s family. The cheer competition continued Monday, but the atmosphere changed. Organizers and teams held a moment of silence in Addi’s honor before events resumed. Event host Jeff Krapf told the crowd to think of her smile, describing it as the kind that made competitions brighter. Some athletes said they performed with her in mind. Juliane Corona, a visiting cheer participant, told a Las Vegas television station that teams were cheering harder for Addi because she did not get the chance to compete that weekend. In Salem, Utah, a police department also publicly noted that the girl was the niece of one of its sergeants, showing how far the loss reached beyond the arena floor.
By the time the final routines played out, the usual sounds of a national cheer weekend had taken on a different meaning. The arena still had music, applause and team chants, but many adults were also checking phones, comforting children and trading updates in hallways. Coaches who had started the day expecting scores and trophies instead found themselves explaining death and grief to young athletes. Online, tributes focused on Addi’s smile, her willingness to try any role on a team and the shock of losing a child in a setting built around competition and travel. At the hotel, investigators worked through the room evidence and the note while the Strip corridor outside moved through its usual Sunday traffic. The contrast between the bright, public setting and the private violence inside a guest room became one of the most haunting facts of the case.
The case remained under investigation as a murder-suicide, with police still withholding some details about the timeline, the note and any motive. The next public milestones were the completion of the coroner’s findings for Addi and any further police update on what detectives learned from the room, the weapon and interviews.