A troubled “dance mom” from Utah who was embroiled in a messy custody battle with her ex-husband killed her cheerleader daughter in a Las Vegas hotel room and then turned the gun on herself in a tragic murder-suicide, according to cops.
Addi Smith, 11, was found shot dead alongside her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, 38, at the Rio Hotel & Casino on Sunday with an apparent suicide note after the pair failed to show up for a cheer competition, authorities said.
Police confirmed the mom and daughter were in town for the cheer meet, without giving their names or divulging the contents of the note.
However, Utah Xtreme Cheer later announced that the pre-teen, who lived in Salt Lake City, had “passed away” soon after cops made the grim hotel room discovery.
Disturbing details emerge after cops found bodies of cheer mom, daughter in suspected murder suicide
“With the heaviest hearts, we share the devastating news that our sweet athlete Addi has passed away,” the cheer team said in a statement.
“We are completely heartbroken. No words do the situation justice. She was so beyond loved, and she will always be a part of the UXC family.”
Police believe McGeehan, 38, killed her daughter sometime late Saturday before turning the gun on herself.
Officers and hotel security first went to the mom and daughter’s room at about 10:45 a.m. Sunday, after someone requested a welfare check.
They knocked several times but left when no one answered, police said.
‘Dance mom’ who killed daughter at Vegas cheer contest won control of 11-year-old after nasty court battle
Authorities made the grim discovery several hours later after repeated requests from the family to check the room again.
Homicide detectives are still probing the case, they said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if any hotel guests heard, or reported, gunfire.
The Post reached out to the police department for additional information but didn’t hear back immediately.
Public records and court documents reviewed by The Post shed some light on McGeehan’s financial woes as well as an ugly, multi-year custody dispute she had with her ex-husband, Brad Smith.
McGeehan declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy on two different occasions, in 2017 and then again in 2021, and had at least three liens or civil judgments against her.
She also had several criminal offenses on her record, including traffic violations, shoplifting, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct between 2020 and 2025.
In 2019, she was found guilty of “custodial interference,” a Class C misdemeanor, presumably in connection with the couple’s meticulously structured joint custody agreement.
After they divorced in 2015, the pair spent nine bitter years fighting for custody of Addi — though the killer mom appeared to retain much of the control over her daughter, according to 2024 court docs.
Under their split custody arrangement, the court played a hand in orchestrating every detail of how the young girl was handed off between the parents after visits at their respective homes.
The couple was ordered to park their cars a full five spaces apart during custody handovers at Addi’s school, and she was made to walk between the parents’ vehicles by herself.
At times, school wasn’t in session, the parents were ordered to conduct the handover outside the Herriman Police Department in Utah at 9 a.m. every Monday.
The parents were further warned never to film the custody handovers and to stay away from one another at Addi’s school events.