Mother Charged With 2nd Degree Murder After 173 Empty Liquor Bottles Found Under Teen Daughter’s Bed

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A Colorado mother has been charged with second-degree murder after prosecutors alleged she spent months supplying alcohol to her 16-year-old daughter, who died from complications linked to chronic alcohol use.

The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced that Gretchen Leanne Ryan has been charged in connection with the March death of her daughter at their Arvada home.

According to investigators, the teenager’s death followed months of severe physical decline that prosecutors say was documented in messages exchanged between the girl and her mother.

Emergency responders were called to the family’s residence on March 9 after reports of an unresponsive juvenile. The 16-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

During a search of the home, detectives reported finding 173 empty alcohol bottles hidden beneath the girl’s bed and in her closet. The bottles included various brands and sizes of vodka and other hard liquors.

Authorities said evidence suggested Ryan and her daughter frequently consumed alcohol and marijuana together. Detectives allege communications recovered from cellular devices showed the pair discussed obtaining and consuming alcohol on an almost daily basis beginning in September 2025.

Investigators further allege Ryan arranged regular alcohol deliveries to the home and concealed her daughter’s drinking from the girl’s father, who primarily lived in the basement of the residence.

According to court filings, messages exchanged between the mother and daughter described increasingly serious health problems in the months before the teen’s death.

Prosecutors say the girl reported vomiting blood, struggling to eat, having difficulty walking and, at times, needing diapers because of symptoms associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Investigators also allege the teenager repeatedly told her mother she feared she was dying and sought help.

Messages exchanged the night before her death indicate the teen continued communicating with Ryan about being ill. Prosecutors say the girl’s final outgoing message was sent at 10:07 p.m. on March 8 from an iPad found near her body in a bathroom. Subsequent messages from Ryan went unanswered, per prosecutors.

According to investigators, 911 was not called until about 8:15 a.m. the following morning.

Medical findings became a key part of the investigation.

Preliminary autopsy results found the teenager had an abnormally fatty liver for someone her age, which medical professionals believed could indicate extensive and prolonged alcohol consumption.

In a final autopsy report issued in April, Jefferson County forensic pathologist Dr. Dawn Holmes determined the girl’s cause of death was aspiration pneumonia related to chronic alcohol use. The manner of death was classified as natural because of the voluntary nature of the alcohol consumption.

According to the report, chronic alcohol use can increase the risk of aspiration pneumonia by suppressing gag and cough reflexes, reducing salivary gland function and weakening immune system function.

Prosecutors allege Ryan knowingly caused her daughter’s death and charged her with one count of second-degree murder on May 15. She was later arrested and booked into the Jefferson County Jail, where she is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.

Ryan is scheduled to appear in court on June 17 for a preliminary hearing.