Colorado mom allegedly bought alcohol daily for 16-year-old daughter found dead with 173 empty bottles

A Colorado mother has been charged in connection with the death of her 16-year-old daughter, who prosecutors say drank herself to death and had 173 empty alcohol bottles hidden in her bedroom, authorities announced.

Gretchen Leanne Ryan, 55, is charged with second-degree murder, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Her daughter was identified in an obituary as Grace Elizabeth Ryan.

The younger Ryan was found dead on March 9 at her Arvada home after authorities received reports of an unresponsive female.

Preliminary autopsy findings revealed the teen had an abnormally fatty liver for someone her age, which medical professionals believed indicated prolonged periods of alcohol consumption. Her cause of death was determined to be aspiration pneumonia related to chronic alcohol use.

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The mother and daughter frequently drank extensively and smoked marijuana together, prosecutors said. Beginning in September 2025, the pair discussed drinking and purchasing alcohol on an almost daily basis via text messages, according to authorities.

"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 DA's office said in a news release.

Ryan kept supplying her daughter with alcohol despite the teen's significant physical health concerns, according to text messages. The communications described episodes of blood vomiting, difficulty eating, difficulty walking and the use of diapers due to symptoms associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

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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.

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.