A Colorado mother is facing a murder charge after prosecutors say she gave her 16-year-old daughter alcohol for months before the teen died from complications tied to chronic drinking.
Gretchen Leanne Ryan has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with her daughter’s death in March 2026, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The case began on March 9, when Arvada Fire and Arvada Police were called to a home in the 6400 block of West 85th Avenue for a report of an unresponsive teenage girl.
When emergency crews arrived, the 16-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
As investigators tried to determine what happened, they searched cell phones and other electronic devices belonging to both Ryan and her daughter. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by People, investigators found messages that allegedly showed months of conversations about getting and drinking alcohol beginning in September 2025.
Prosecutors allege Ryan arranged regular alcohol deliveries to the home, drank alcohol and used marijuana with her daughter, and hid the teen’s drinking from the girl’s father, who mostly lived in the basement of the same residence.
The affidavit paints a disturbing picture of the teen’s final weeks.
Investigators said messages between mother and daughter documented a serious decline in the girl’s health. The teen allegedly described vomiting blood, struggling to eat, having trouble walking, sleeping in the bathroom and using diapers because of symptoms connected to excessive alcohol use.
In one exchange cited by investigators, the teen told her mother she was in “so much pain” while repeatedly asking for alcohol.
At another point, the girl allegedly told Ryan she was “gonna die” and asked her mother to call 911. Authorities allege Ryan did not get emergency medical help for her daughter despite those pleas.
Investigators said the final exchange between the two happened the night before the teen was found dead. The girl’s last outgoing message was allegedly sent at 10:07 p.m. on March 8 from an iPad later found near her body in the bathroom.
After that, messages from Ryan reportedly went unanswered. Emergency responders were not called until around 8:15 a.m. the next morning, according to authorities.
Detectives later searched the teen’s bedroom and found 173 empty alcohol bottles hidden under her bed and inside her closet, the district attorney’s office said.
Prosecutors also said the girl had withdrawn from public school in April 2025 and enrolled in online classes. At the time of her death, she had completed only one online semester of ninth-grade coursework and had not participated in activities outside the home for several months, according to the DA’s office.
Medical findings cited by prosecutors allegedly showed the teen had an abnormally fatty liver for someone her age, which doctors said could point to extensive and prolonged alcohol consumption.
An autopsy found the teen died from aspiration pneumonia related to chronic alcohol use. Aspiration pneumonia happens when material enters the lungs and causes a serious infection.
The death was classified as natural, with the pathologist noting that long-term alcohol use can raise the risk of aspiration pneumonia by weakening the body’s protective reflexes and immune response.
After her arrest, Ryan allegedly made several statements to investigators about her daughter’s death. According to the affidavit, she repeatedly told detectives, “I killed her,” before later saying she felt responsible.
Ryan was booked into the Jefferson County Jail, where she is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond, according to jail records.
When I got out of the service in 1975, I started college in Ohio.
“Colorado” was flavor of the week. Every baby boomer in college at that time was “going to move Colorado.” Ah yes, Colorado was where every 20 something year old was moving to to raise a family.
Hmmm, so how did that work out????