Mom and Daughter Shot Dead in Nevada Hotel, Chilling 911 Calls Unravel Grim Incident

New 911 calls reveal what happened before police found a Utah woman and her 11-year-old dead in their hotel room at the Las Vegas strip.

Tawnia McGeehan, 34, and Addilyn Smith, 11, were discovered dead inside their room at the Rio Hotel & Casino, hours after a 911 caller requested a welfare check. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed that McGeehan shot Smith dead before turning the gun on herself.

On the morning of 15 February, 911 received a call reporting the victims missing. Patrol officers knocked on the victims' hotel at around 10:45am, but there was no response.

Victims Found Dead During Welfare Check

After more than three hours of failed attempts to contact the victims, hotel security decided to enter the room and found two unresponsive females. Las Vegas police pronounced the victims deceased at the scene.

"Based on the preliminary evidence at the scene, detectives were able to determine the mother shot her daughter before shooting herself," according to a press release.

The 911 caller was identified as Smith's father, who remains unnamed. Per the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Smith was supposed to compete at a cheer dance contest on the day of the incident, but they did not attend.

Recordings Reveal Father's Frantic 911 Call

'I'm trying to figure out where my daughter and her mom is,' Smith's father said in one of the recordings. 'They were supposed to be at a dance competition this morning, they didn't show up, people went to their hotel room, they're not answering the door.'

'They're not answering messages or even seeing the messages, very strange,' the caller added. 'I talked to [McGeehan] yesterday and my daughter and everything seemed just fine. She was at her practice yesterday.'

Smith's coach also called 911 to confirm the victims' absence at the cheer dance event. He said he was worried, fearing Smith is 'possibly in imminent danger.' 'Based on the details at the time [of the calls], there was no belief that either was in danger and officers cleared,' Las Vegas Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Police Found a Note at the Crime Scene

Police Lieutenant Robert Price later confirmed they found a note at the crime scene, but he did not reveal its contents. They're still looking into possible motives for the killing. 'This is a sad and tragic incident, and our hearts go out to the family,' he said in a press conference.

Court records confirmed McGeehan and Smith's father divorced in 2017. Per KUTV, a judge temporarily removed McGeehan's custody of Smith in 2020, citing parental alienation. In 2024, the ruling was modified to give McGeehan and Smith's father joint custody.

A GoFundMe campaign was set up to cover funeral expenses. Kory Uyetake, owner of Utah Xtreme Cheer Gym, remembered Smith as 'kind of a hype man for the team.' '[Addilyn] was always the person to get up there and get the kids pumped up when things weren't really going their way,' she recalled.

'Addi was kind of that positive influence that the team needed always willing to be a leader. She was an athlete that just embodied everything that we that we strive to have and we strive to do and teach our kids at my gym.'