Colorado mother charged with murder after daughter dies of alcohol related complications

A woman in Colorado has been charged in the death of her daughter after investigators determined she had been providing the child with alcohol for an extended period of time.

According to the First Judicial District Attorney's Office, the Arvada fire and police departments were called to the 6400 block of West 85th Avenue when a teenage girl was found unresponsive on March 9. The 16-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police recovered 173 empty alcohol bottles hidden underneath the girl's bed and inside her closet.

Investigators with the APD looked into cellular devices belonging to the girl and her mother, Gretchen Leanne Ryan, and say they found evidence that the woman and her daughter frequently consumed alcohol and marijuana together. Police said that beginning in Sept. 2025, the two appeared to consume and procure alcohol on an almost daily basis and that Ryan took steps to hide her daughter's drinking from the girl's father.

In the months leading up to her death, investigators say the teen told her mother she was suffering from significant health problems and told her mother that she was afraid she was going to die. The night before she died, police say she messaged her mother about being sick, but later messages to Ryan went unanswered. It wasn't until the following morning that the 911 call was placed.

A preliminary autopsy found that the teen had an abnormally fatty liver for someone her age, which they believe indicates extensive and prolonged alcohol consumption. Her cause of death was determined to be aspiration pneumonia related to chronic alcohol use.

On May 15, the First Judicial District Attorney's Office filed charges against Ryan for one count of second-degree murder in connection with her daughter's death. She was booked into the Jefferson County Jail and is being held on a $500000 cash-only bond.

Ryan's preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 17.