New details...

More facts are coming to light in this tragic case of a custody dispute gone terribly wrong.

Newly released autopsy records reveal that a Utah mother and her 11-year-old daughter both had multiple medications in their systems when they were found dead inside a room at the Rio hotel on February 15, according to reporting by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Police discovered 34-year-old Tawnia McGeehan and her daughter, Addilyn Smith, after relatives and friends requested a welfare check when the pair failed to appear at a cheerleading competition. A chair had been placed inside the doorway with a handwritten warning telling anyone entering to call 911 because two bodies—including that of an 11-year-old—were inside.

Mother and daughter were found together on a bed, both suffering from gunshot wounds to the head. McGeehan was holding a Ruger handgun. Her death was ruled a suicide; Addilyn’s was ruled a homicide.

Investigators found another note in which McGeehan indicated that Addilyn had been heavily medicated beforehand. Toxicology testing found lorazepam, quetiapine and gabapentin in the child’s system, although authorities found no medication in the room prescribed to her. Addilyn’s father reportedly said she had no known medical conditions.

McGeehan also tested positive for gabapentin and lorazepam, as well as an antidepressant and multiple doses of diphenhydramine, commonly sold as Benadryl. Investigators recovered several prescription bottles, a sleep aid, cannabis gummies, broken gabapentin capsules and a cup containing white powder from the room.

Court records show that McGeehan and Addilyn’s father divorced in 2015 and remained involved in years of disputes concerning custody, schooling and child support. A judge granted the father temporary sole custody in 2020 after finding that McGeehan had committed domestic abuse in the presence of a child and engaged in behavior associated with parental alienation.

The autopsy report also noted that McGeehan had reportedly experienced severe depression and suicidal thoughts amid relationship problems and the continuing custody dispute.

Regardless of how depressed you are, you don't kill your child!!