Court records reveal Utah mom’s legal issues years before Las Vegas murder-suicide

The undated photo shows Tawnia McGeehan and her daughter Addi Smith. Las Vegas authorities said Monday that McGeehan killed her daughter and then herself in a hotel room. (Utah Xtreme Cheer)

Tawnia McGeehan had a handful of brushes with the law after her divorce from Bradley Smith, stemming from her relationship with the man and custody of their daughter.
McGeehan and Smith engaged in a long custody battle over their daughter, and McGeehan’s court records shed more light on their relationship.
Police say McGeehan shot and killed the 11-year-old girl and then herself.

WEST JORDAN — A mother suspected of killing her daughter before taking her own life in Las Vegas had a handful of brushes with the law related to apparent custody issues after divorcing the girl’s father, court records show.

The incidents occurred years before the weekend tragedy in Nevada but provide additional insight into Tawnia McGeehan, particularly in the aftermath of her 2017 divorce from Bradley Smith. Las Vegas police say McGeehan, 34, killed the couple’s child, 11-year-old Addi Smith, and then herself in an apparent murder-suicide. Their bodies were discovered in the hotel room where they were staying on Sunday.

McGeehan was charged in connection with five incidents in West Jordan or Sandy involving custodial interference or electronic harassment between June 2017 and August 2020, according to court records. She pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges, which were later dismissed through a plea in abeyance, though a judge denied her request to expunge them from her record.

In another case, she received probation and a suspended jail sentence, while in a fourth, a misdemeanor charge was reduced to an infraction. In a fifth case, the charge she faced was dismissed.

A court search shows no criminal charges against Smith related to his relationship with McGeehan. The final court filing in their divorce case shows he was late on $9,772 in child support payments as of February 2024.

Las Vegas police say McGeehan and Addi were discovered by security personnel at the hotel where they were staying on Sunday afternoon during a welfare check. The two, who lived in West Jordan, had traveled to Las Vegas for a cheer competition that Addi was participating in.

The Clark County Office of the Coroner has deemed McGeehan’s death a suicide while the investigation into her daughter’s death is not yet complete. Authorities haven’t indicated what precipitated the violence in Las Vegas, but records in the divorce case between McGeehan and Smith indicate tumult between the two. The divorce was finalized in 2017, but the couple’s daughter had been at the center of a long custody dispute that wasn’t resolved until 2024 with a ruling giving the parents joint custody.

Before that decision, a Dec. 4, 2020, court order in the divorce case had temporarily awarded custody of Addi to her father, citing apparent parenting issues with McGeehan. The filing said McGeehan “has committed domestic abuse” in front of Addi and that she had engaged in behavior meant to alienate her daughter from her father.

McGeehan’s “co-parenting skills relating to appropriately communicating with the other parent and encouraging the sharing of love and affection is seriously in question based (on) the evidence and proffers that have been provided,” reads the order.

In addition, criminal court records show McGeehan had a handful of run-ins with the law related to custody issues and more, all prior to the Dec. 4, 2020, order.

She was charged in West Jordan Justice Court in 2017 with two counts of custodial interference, a class B misdemeanor, stemming from incidents on June 21 and 28 that year. Charging documents don’t specify what happened but describe the offense as detaining a child when someone else is entitled to visitation with the person.

She pleaded guilty as part of a plea in abeyance to both charges on Sept. 19, 2017, and they were dismissed a year later, court records show. Such pleas allow defendants to have charges dismissed after pleading no contest or guilty if they meet certain conditions.

McGeehan sought to have the charges expunged from her record, but a judge denied the request on May 11, 2022. He cited “the ongoing volatile relationship defendant has with her ex-husband and his wife,” though he left open the possibility of expungement later.

McGeehan was subsequently charged with attempted custodial interference, a class B misdemeanor, in Sandy Justice Court stemming from an Aug. 15, 2018, incident at her home at the time in Sandy. The charge was reduced to a class C misdemeanor, and she was found guilty on Feb. 14, 2019, receiving a suspended 30-day jail sentence and 12 months of probation. She committed no violations during the probationary period, and the case was closed on Feb. 18, 2020.

Then on Nov. 25, 2020, the woman was charged in West Jordan Justice Court with custodial interference, a class B misdemeanor, stemming from a June 24, 2020, incident at her home at the time in West Jordan. The charge was dismissed on Sept. 8, 2021.

On Nov. 30, 2020, she was charged with electronic communication harassment with a domestic violence enhancement, a class B misdemeanor, for allegedly communicating via electronics in an abusive, threatening or disruptive form in August 2020. McGeehan was found guilty of a lesser charge, disturbing the peace, an infraction, and fined $150.

Court records show no additional offenses against McGeehan after that, aside from a speeding ticket in 2024.

Suicide prevention resources

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call 988 to connect with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Crisis hotlines

Huntsman Mental Health Institute Crisis Line: 801-587-3000
SafeUT Crisis Line: 833-372-3388
988 Suicide and Crisis LifeLine at 988
Trevor Project Hotline for LGBTQ teens: 1-866-488-7386

Online resources

NAMI Utah: namiut.org
SafeUT: safeut.org
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988lifeline.org
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Utah chapter: afsp.org/chapter/utah

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Mom Who Killed Cheerleader Daughter in Hotel During Tournament Had Lost Custody of Her for Years

Addilyn Smith, 11, was killed by her mother last weekend before the woman died by suicide

Tawnia McGeehan with Addilyn Smith (left); and Addilyn Smith.Credit : Tawnia McGeehan/Facebook (2)

NEED TO KNOW

Tawnia McGeehan, 34, killed her daughter while the two were in Las Vegas for a cheerleading tournament
Hotel security guards responding to requests for a welfare check on Sunday, Feb. 15, found McGeehan and her daughter, Addilyn Smith, fatally shot
Court records show a judge once removed Addilyn from McGeehan’s custody, citing parental alienation

The woman who fatally shot her 11-year-old daughter in a Nevada hotel room before turning the gun on herself once temporarily lost custody of the child, according to reports.

Addilyn Smith, a beloved cheerleader from Utah, was killed by her mother Tawnia McGeehan, 34, inside a Las Vegas, Nev., hotel room before McGeehan died by suicide, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.

Officers with LVMPD found their bodies on Sunday, Feb. 15.

According to FOX 5, the mother-daughter duo were in town for a cheerleading tournament.

Court documents obtained by KUTV are now shedding light on McGeehan’s history with her child.

Addilyn’s parents divorced in 2017, according to court records pertaining to the custody arrangements cited by KUTV.

In December 2020, a Utah County court granted Addilyn’s father sole custody on a temporary basis, the documents stated.

In his decision, a judge cited McGeehan’s parental alienation as one of the reasons for the deicison. The judge further said that McGeehan had committed domestic abuse in front of Addilyn.

Per the judge’s order, McGeehan was required to have a third party present for her parent time with Addilyn, KUTV reported.

The decree was modified in May 2024, when a judge awarded both parents joint legal and physical custody. It wasn’t immediately clear what led to this modification.

Addilyn Smith.Tawnia McGeehan/Facebook

Mother Fatally Shoots Daughter, Then Herself at Las Vegas Hotel in ‘Heartbreaking Event’

Addilyn is being deeply mourned following the killing, which has shaken her cheer community.

“She was so beyond loved, and she will always be a part of the UXC family,” Utah Xtreme Cheer said in a post on Facebook on Sunday.

“She took a lot of pride in what she was doing,” Emily Morgan, who once coached Addilyn, told KUTV. “As a coach, that’s the dream. And because of that attitude, I always knew she was going to go far in this experience.”

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Addilyn and her mother’s bodies were found following welfare check requests from Addilyn’s cheer team after she missed the competition on Sunday morning, FOX 5 reported.

Police initially responded to the hotel for a welfare check and got no response, but found no reason for concerns, LVMPD said in their statement.

However, hotel security personnel decided to get into the room after repeated calls for checks later into the day, per LVMPD.

It wasn’t immediately clear what led up to the killing, and police have not publicly commented on a motive.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.