A Colorado woman is facing charges after prosecutors said her 16-year-old daughter died from alcohol-related complications, with investigators later finding 173 empty liquor bottles concealed in the teen’s bedroom.
Gretchen Leanne Ryan, 55, has been charged with second-degree murder, the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced. Her daughter was named in an obituary as Grace Elizabeth Ryan.
Authorities said the teenager was discovered dead March 9 inside the family’s Arvada home after emergency responders were called to reports of an unresponsive female.
According to preliminary autopsy results, the teen had an unusually fatty liver for someone her age, a condition medical professionals believed pointed to extended alcohol use. Officials determined her cause of death was aspiration pneumonia linked to chronic alcohol consumption.
Gretchen Leanne Ryan is accused in the death of her teenage daughter, who authorities said suffered fatal alcohol-related complications and had 173 empty bottles hidden in her room. (Getty Images; Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutors alleged that the mother and daughter often drank heavily and used marijuana together. Beginning in September 2025, investigators said, text messages showed the two discussed drinking and buying alcohol nearly every day.
“The communications indicate Ryan arranged regular alcohol deliveries to the home and took steps to conceal the victim’s alcohol use from her father, who primarily resided in the basement of the home,” the district attorney’s office said in a news release.
Prosecutors said Ryan continued providing alcohol to her daughter despite clear signs the teen’s health was deteriorating. Text messages described symptoms including vomiting blood, trouble eating, difficulty walking and the use of diapers, which authorities said were connected to excessive alcohol use.
Police said that during their investigation they found bottles of various brands and sizes of vodka and other hard liquor in the girl’s room. (Jeff Greenberg/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, File)
Aware of her excessive drinking, the younger Ryan feared she would die and repeatedly expressed concerns about her health to her mother, authorities said.
Text messages sent to her mother the night before her death revealed that the teen said she was not feeling well.
During their investigation, detectives found 173 empty alcohol bottles hidden in the teen’s bedroom — under her bed and inside a closet, the DA said.
The bottles included various brands and sizes of vodka and other hard liquor.
The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office has charged a Colorado mother with her daughter’s death after she drank alcohol excessively. (First Judicial District Attorney’s Office)
Amid her alcohol consumption, the teen was un-enrolled from her high school in April 2025 to attend online classes, police said.
At the time of her death, she had completed only one online semester of ninth grade and had not participated in activities outside the home for several months.
Ryan is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
