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Utah Mother and 11-Year-Old Found Dead in Las Vegas Hotel in Apparent Murder-Suicide During Cheer Trip

A welfare check hours before the discovery did not lead officers to enter the hotel room.

Overview

  • Las Vegas police say preliminary evidence shows the mother shot her daughter and then herself inside a room at the Rio Hotel & Casino, and the investigation continues.
  • Family, court records and team posts identify the victims as 38-year-old Tawnia McGeehan and her daughter, 11-year-old cheerleader Addi Smith, who traveled from Utah for a competition.
  • Officers responded for a welfare check around 10:45 a.m. Sunday, knocked and left without entry; hotel security later entered around 2:27–2:30 p.m. and found both unresponsive.
  • A note was recovered in the room, its contents remain undisclosed; the coroner ruled McGeehan’s death a suicide by gunshot to the head, with Addi’s cause and manner pending.
  • Reports detail a years-long custody dispute between McGeehan and the child’s father, as the cheer community shares tributes and a fundraising appeal while detectives seek additional information.