New Toxicology Results Shed Light on Deaths of Utah Girl and Mother in Las Vegas Hotel

Newly released toxicology and investigative records are providing additional details about the deaths of 11-year-old Addilyn “Addi” Smith and her mother, Tawnia Hope McGeehan, who were found dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room earlier this year.

The mother and daughter had traveled from Utah to Las Vegas for Addilyn’s cheerleading competition. When Addilyn failed to appear at the event and neither she nor her mother could be reached, family members and people connected to her cheer team contacted police and requested a welfare check at the Rio Hotel & Casino.

According to the Clark County coroner’s records, Addilyn’s blood tested positive for quetiapine, diphenhydramine, gabapentin and lorazepam, while caffeine was also presumptively detected. McGeehan’s toxicology report listed quetiapine, diphenhydramine, gabapentin, lorazepam, eszopiclone or zopiclone, and citalopram or escitalopram. Cannabinoids and caffeine were also detected in her testing.

Despite the number of substances found, the coroner did not determine that the medications or other substances caused either death. Addilyn died from a gunshot wound to the head, and her manner of death was ruled a homicide. McGeehan also died from a gunshot wound to the head, with her manner of death ruled a suicide.

Investigators also documented several concerning details inside the hotel room. A handwritten note reportedly stated that Addilyn had been “very medicated” before her death. Another note was attached to a chair partially blocking the entrance and warned anyone entering to call 911 first because two people were inside.

Police also reported finding prescription medication bottles, an opened package of THC gummies, over-the-counter sleep aids, broken or empty gabapentin capsules and a clear cup containing a white powdery residue. The presence of those items formed part of the investigative record, but the official cause of death for both remained the gunshot wounds.

The records also reveal a lengthy history of custody disputes between McGeehan and Addilyn’s father, Bradley Smith. The former spouses divorced in 2015 and continued to have legal disputes involving custody, child support and schooling. Court records show that custody arrangements changed over the years, including a period when Smith was granted temporary sole custody.

By 2024, court records reflected an ongoing custody arrangement involving both parents, although portions of the case remained sealed. The available records do not, by themselves, establish that the custody dispute was the cause of the February deaths.

When police and hotel security eventually entered the Rio room, Addilyn and McGeehan were found together in a bed. Investigators concluded that McGeehan had shot her daughter before taking her own life. The newly released records add details to an investigation that had already been classified as a murder-suicide, while leaving the precise circumstances and motivations surrounding the tragedy subject to the investigative record.

The toxicology findings now provide a clearer picture of what was present in the mother and daughter’s systems before their deaths, but they do not change the official determination: Addilyn died by homicide from a gunshot wound, while McGeehan died by suicide from a gunshot wound.

Source: FOX5