Coroner’s report notes prior mental health issues of Utah mom in Las Vegas deaths
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Tim Vandenack, KSL
SALT LAKE CITY (KSL) — The Utah woman who authorities say shot and killed her young daughter in a Las Vegas hotel room in February before killing herself had previously experienced mental health issues.
Tawnia McGeehan, 34, also had multiple drugs in her system, according to the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner report into her death, released Monday. A handwritten note found at the scene stated that her daughter, Addi Smith, 11, had been “very medicated” when the violence occurred.
Clark County officials in Las Vegas released the coroner’s reports into the deaths of McGeehan and Addi late Monday to KSL in response to a records request. The information aligns with what officials said after the incident last February — that they suspected McGeehan had killed her daughter in the hotel room they were sharing while attending a cheerleading event before killing herself.
The reports shed some new light into the tragedy, which occurred Feb. 15, while also repeating some of what officials have already said. Both died of gunshot wounds; Addi’s death was deemed a homicide, and McGeehan’s death was deemed a suicide, according to the coroner’s reports.
Moreover, while the coroner’s office doesn’t explicitly state what may have motivated the incident, the reports reference McGeehan’s mental state and issues with her ex-husband, Bradley Smith, over custody of Addi.
“The decedent’s family reported a history of severe depression with previous prescribed depression medication. They were aware of past suicidal ideations but denied knowledge of past attempts,” reads the report.
It also references issues the woman had with her ex-husband. Utah court records KSL reported on last February show Addi had been the focus of a custody battle and that McGeehan had a handful of brushes with the law in Sandy and West Jordan in the aftermath of her divorce from Smith, stemming from lingering tumult in the relationship.
“Multiple apparent suicide notes located. Decedent had reportedly been severely depressed over breakups and ongoing custody battle with her ex-husband,” the report reads. It notes that the woman’s mother “was unaware that the decedent had a gun.”
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While referencing at least three notes at the scene, the report didn’t mention any motive specified in them. One note just inside the main entry into the room warned of the dead bodies inside; another noted that the girl had been “very medicated.”
Among the drugs found in McGeehan’s system were citalopram, used to treat depression; eszopiclone/zopiclone, used to treat insomnia; and cannabinoids, among others. No prescription drugs in Addi’s name were found on the scene, though lorazepam, used for sedation, was found in her body, same as her mother.
The incident occurred in a Las Vegas hotel room. After the mother and her daughter failed to appear at the cheerleading competition they were attending and couldn’t be reached, Smith requested a welfare check by Las Vegas police. That was around 11:44 a.m. on Feb. 15. Other parents and coaches involved in the event made similar requests.
Police went to the room and got no response and cleared the call “as they did not have enough reason to force entry,” reads the coroner’s report.
Police received another call on the matter at 2:27 p.m., and at some point, hotel security entered the room, finding the bodies. The coroner’s report said officials from that office were contacted by a Las Vegas homicide detective about 5:45 p.m. on the matter, and officials pronounced the woman and the girl dead at 7:15 p.m.