The Utah “dance mom” who killed her 11-year-old daughter before taking her own life in a Las Vegas hotel room went through an ugly custody dispute with her ex-husband starting with their divorce in 2015.
Addi Smith, 11, was found shot dead alongside her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, 38, at the Rio Hotel & Casino on Sunday after the pair failed to show up for a cheer competition, authorities said.
Court papers viewed by the Daily Mail reveal McGeehan and her ex-husband, Brad Smith, spent a bitter nine years fighting for custody of Addi following their divorce, and that the split was far from amicable.
The court played a hand in orchestrating every detail of how the young girl was handed off between the parents after visits at their respective homes.
The couple was ordered to park their cars a full five spaces apart during custody handovers at Addi’s school, and she was made to walk between the parents’ vehicles by herself.
At times, school wasn’t in session, the parents were ordered to conduct the handover outside the Herriman Police Department in Utah at 9 a.m. every Monday.
The parents were further warned never to film the custody handovers, and to stay away from one another at Addi’s school events.
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