A Utah ‘dance mom’ who murdered her 11-year-old daughter then killed herself in a Las Vegas hotel room endured an exceptionally bitter custody battle with her ex-husband.
Tawnia McGeehan, 38, and her estranged ex Bradley Smith had such a bad relationship that they were ordered to park five spots apart during custody handovers for daughter Addi Smith, who was found dead alongside McGeehan on Sunday.
The bodies of McGeehan and her daughter were found in their room at the Rio Hotel, with investigators saying that the mom shot her daughter dead, before taking her own life after traveling to Sin City for a dance contest they failed to show up for.
McGeehan and Smith divorced in 2015. It is unclear why, but the split was clearly acrimonious.
Smith even listed his old wedding ring for sale on Facebook in August 2016, and pointedly wrote in the advert: ‘I only wore the ring for a year.’
The former couple then spent the next nine years fighting for custody of Addi, leading to a slew of rules to try and keep them apart as much as possible.
The most recent ruling, handed down in May of 2024, ordered McGeehan and Smith to complete custody handovers outside Addi’s school, with the requisite five spaces separating their cars to keep them apart.
Addi was to walk between the two cars by herself. When school was not in session, her parents were ordered to complete the handover outside Herriman Police Department in Utah at 9am each Monday morning.
Both parents were warned in the custody ruling not to film the custody handovers and were banned from approaching one another at Addi’s school events.
Addi Smith was killed by her mother Tawnia McGeehan on Monday before taking her own life
Tawnia, pictured with Addi, endured an exceptionally bitter custody battle with Addi’s father Bradley Smith
The court ordered the two to ‘encourage and accept’ a positive relationship between Addi and the opposing parent and to keep their ‘personal conflicts’ away from the youngster.
They also had to make Addi available for FaceTime on Tuesday and Friday nights at 6pm. The parents were each given a 15 minute window to make the call or risk forfeiting it for the day.
The parents were forbidden from criticizing each other in front of Addi and banned from letting their relatives do the same in front of their daughter.
‘If a parent is unable to restrain a third party from making such remarks, that parent shall remove the child from the presence of that person’, the judge said.
The two were ordered to use the Family Wizard, an app which offers messaging between warring couples who share children. McGeehan and Smith were told they could only text one another in the event of an emergency involving Addi.
Smith was ordered to pay $288-a-month to McGeehan, and was in arrears totaling over $9,600 as of February 2024. It is unclear if he caught up on those payments.
It was initially agreed that Addi would live with McGeehan while the two shared joint custody when they originally divorced, court papers said.
In December of 2020 however, the court ordered that Smith be handed sole custody. Facebook photos suggest he was a dedicated father and that Addi adored him.
The custody ruling came after a judge found that McGeehan was subjecting Addi to ‘behavior that is on the spectrum of parental alienation’.
Addi is pictured here alongside her father Bradley Smith, who at one stage in proceedings was awarded sole custody
Bradley Smith listed his wedding ring for sale in August 2016 and pointedly said he ‘only wore it for a year’
Addi, a budding cheerleader, was in Las Vegas over the weekend for competition alongside her mom when the two went missing, before security inside their hotel made a grim discovery
The ruling added that McGeehan ‘has committed domestic abuse in the presence of the minor child’.
No further details were offered in the papers reviewed by the Daily Mail.
There are 350 submissions in relation to the couple’s divorce and custody battle but the vast majority are under seal.
Smith married second wife McKennly in 2020. On Sunday she shared a picture of Addi and McGeehan to her social media asking for any information after they failed to turn up for the dance contest.
McKennly referred to Addi as ‘my daughter’ and social media photos suggest she enjoyed a close relationship with her late stepdaughter.
The hunt for McGeehan and Addi ended in the discovery of their bodies.
Police said they received a welfare check call on Sunday morning inside the resort. After arriving at the scene, they knocked on the door and called out to the room for more than 15 minutes before leaving.
Security inside the hotel then went up to the room in the early afternoon after receiving calls from relatives of McGeehan and Smith.
Police found Addi, seen here, inside a room in the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, they believe McGeehan murdered her before killing herself
A note was left in the room. Its contents have not yet been made public, with police continuing to investigate
Addi’s stepmother McKennly Smith shared a missing poster after the 11-year-old and her mother failed to turn up for a dance contest in Vegas
McKennly Smith is pictured in a recent social media photo with Addi’s father Bradley Smith
They too knocked on the door and, after not hearing any response, decided to enter, finding the two bodies inside.
There were no reports of gunshots.
A note was left in the room. Its contents have not yet been made public, with police continuing to investigate.
The Utah Xtreme Cheer troupe, of which Addi was a member, shared a tribute to the youngster.
A spokesman said: ‘With the heaviest hearts, we share the devastating news that our sweet athlete Addi has passed away.
‘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.
‘Please keep her family in your thoughts and prayers and continue to send them love as they navigate this unimaginable loss.
‘We ask that you respect their privacy during this time. Addi, we love you tremendously.’
The Daily Mail approached Bradley and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for comment.
