Mom charged in daughter’s alcohol-related death after 173 liquor bottles were reportedly found under the teen’s bed

GOLDEN, Colo. (TCN) -- A mother has been charged with murder in connection with the alcohol-related death of her teenage daughter in March.

According to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, first responders arrived at a home on March 9 after receiving a report that a 16-year-old girl was unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and an investigation began, leading to charges against the deceased girl’s mother, 55-year-old Gretchen Leanne Ryan.

An autopsy performed on Grace Ryan, whose name was released by Law & Crime, determined she had an abnormally fatty liver, leading medical professionals to suspect she had consumed alcohol extensively for a long time leading up to her death. The autopsy report, released April 4, gave her cause of death as aspiration pneumonia caused by chronic alcohol consumption, according to the DA.

Devices belonging to the victim and her mother were forensically examined, revealing evidence that Gretchen Ryan and the Grace Ryan allegedly consumed alcohol and marijuana together.

Gretchen Ryan allegedly began to get alcohol for the girl almost daily and arranged for this via deliveries, according to the DA. Ryan also allegedly hid the girl’s alcohol use from her father, who reportedly spent most of his time in the home’s basement.

Messages between the victim and Gretchen Ryan indicated that the victim experienced worsening physical symptoms related to the excessive alcohol consumption, including vomiting, difficulty walking, and needing to use diapers. She reportedly expressed fear that she would die and asked her mother to help her.

A search of the home reportedly uncovered 173 empty liquor bottles under the victim’s bed. Grace Ryan had been taken out of school and enrolled in online classes starting in the fall of 2025, according to the DA. She had reportedly completed only one semester of the ninth grade and did not participate in outside activities. 

KDVR reports the DA’s office issued a warrant for Gretchen Ryan’s arrest on one count of second-degree murder on May 15, and she is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond. According to KUSA, she is scheduled to appear in court again on June 17.

MORE: