A Utah mother fatally shot her 11-year-old daughter inside a Las Vegas hotel room before taking her own life, police say – a heartbreaking murder-suicide that unfolded as the child was set to compete in a cheer competition.
On February 16, an online user went on Tawnia McGeehan’s Facebook page and added a comment to her most recent post – funeral information for her father, who died in April 2025.
“Where are you and your sweet daughter? I hope y’all are safe,” Heather Weaver wrote in the comment section of the post that included an image of Addilyn “Addi” Smith, 11, visiting her grandfather after a cheer competition in Las Vegas where she placed first.
Responding, another netizen wrote: “She murdered her daughter then turned the gun on herself. They were found in her hotel room. So sad.”
Missed cheer event
One day before, on February 15, about 10:45 a.m., Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMP) responded to a welfare check at the Rio Hotel & Casino involving a mother and her daughter, who were reported missing by Utah Xtreme Cheer.
McGeehan, 38, and Addi had traveled from Utah for the cheerleading competition, but when the girl – the “hype man on the team” – failed to arrive at the event, concern started to spread.
“Officers knocked on the door and called into the room several times but did not get a response. Based on the details at the time, there was no belief that either was in danger and officers cleared,” LVMP explained in a press release.
After police initially left the scene, concern reportedly continued to grow.
