Unsettling note led to discovery of mother, daughter dead at Vegas hotel

Newly released dispatch records show authorities were alerted to a possible suicide attempt after a note was found on the door of a Las Vegas hotel room; Shortly before an 11-year-old girl and her mother were found shot to death inside.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, 11-year-old Addilyn “Addi” Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead in a room at the Rio Hotel & Casino on Feb. 15 after hotel staff conducted a welfare check.

Police were first called to the hotel around 10:45 local time after the duo did not attend the cheerleading competition. According to 911 call records, Addi’s coach requested a medical checkup when Addi did not show up. Obtained by Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Officers knocked on the door and called into the room for 15-20 minutes but received no response. When there were no signs of danger, police canceled the call.

Over the next few hours, hotel staff received additional requests for health checks. At about 2:26 p.m., firefighters notified officers that a note had been found on a door and that there was a possible suicide attempt, the Review-Journal reported. Hotel staff entered the room a minute later.

At 2:35 p.m., ambulance officials told dispatchers they had discovered an adult woman and a child dead, according to the report.

“The mother shot her daughter and then shot herself,” LVMPD homicide Lt. Robert Price said at a previous news conference. He confirmed a note was left behind but declined to discuss its contents. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the cause of the incident and the investigation is ongoing.

POLICE: MOTHER SHOT HER DAUGHTER IN LAS VEGAS HOTEL, THEN MURDERED HERSELF

A view of the exterior of the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas and the surrounding landscape on November 11, 2025. (Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The Clark County medical examiner ruled McGeehan’s cause of death a gunshot wound to the head and listed the manner of death as suicide. Addi’s cause and manner of death are not yet known.

Although police have not officially identified the victims, court documents and family members identified them as McGeehan and Addi.

Court filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show McGeehan and Addi’s father, Brad Smith, were locked in a contentious custody battle for nearly a decade following their 2015 divorce. Judges implemented detailed exchange protocols that determined how and where parents could surrender their daughters. Records show McGeehan temporarily lost custody of Addi in 2017, but was granted joint custody in 2020.

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11-year-old Addi Smith had traveled to Las Vegas for a national cheer competition before she and her mother were found dead at the Rio Hotel & Casino. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing. (GoFundMe)

McGeehan also recently received “nasty” text messages from other parents on her daughter’s Utah Xtreme Cheer team, the New York Post reported.

Tawnia’s mother, Connie McGeehan, told the press that her daughter had been having problems with “one or two” other mothers on the team, and tensions had escalated about a month before the tragedy.

“The last comp they did, another girl was laid off, and some moms were saying it was because of Addi,” Connie McGeehan told The Post. “They were texting [Tawnia] “I’m very serious and I blame Addi.”

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The Post quoted a source close to the team as saying there had recently been a “confrontation” between McGeehan and another mother in the waiting room. Utah Xtreme Cheer owner Kory Uyetake acknowledged there was “back and forth” between McGeehan and some other parents, but said everything seemed normal when the team got to Las Vegas.

One of the other joyful moms who spoke to Fox News Digital confirmed there was tension among some parents but said the focus right now was on the grieving children. She said her daughter is struggling with the loss but plans to start a mental health awareness and suicide prevention program at her school next year in her friend’s honor.

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The JAMZ Nationals cheer competition was held at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, where Addilyn “Addi” Smith was scheduled to compete. (X@CheerTheory)

Valerie Krystine Muniz, who identified herself on social media as Addi’s aunt and her father’s sister, urged the public to stop speculating while the family suffers.

“We’re already seeing a lot of speculation around, so please help spread the love and prayers as my brother tries to pick up the pieces of what happened,” Muniz said. he wrote.

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“I have never known a man who loved and fought for his daughter the way Addi did her entire life,” he added. “The system failed him and her.”

Muniz did not elaborate.

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McGeehan is represented by James Watts. confirmed to PEOPLE that he was aware of the note but did not see it.

“I don’t know what the content is,” Watts told the outlet. “The family’s hope is that it will be returned at some point when law enforcement no longer needs it. [McGeehan’s] mother, [who] “I’d like to know what was said at the time.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to Watts for additional information.

Authorities have not released further details about a possible motive. When contacted, Metro Police said they had no new updates.

Stepheny Price covers crimes including missing persons, murders and immigration crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.

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