A Colorado mother allowed her 16-year-old daughter to drink herself to death, enabling and concealing the teenager’s heavy alcohol consumption for months — and even withdrawing her from high school to keep it hidden, prosecutors say.
When Grace Ryan, of Arvada, died in March, investigators found 173 empty alcohol bottles stashed under her bed and in her closet, according to a press release issued Wednesday by the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors say the stockpile included “various brands and sizes of vodka and other hard liquor” that her mother, Gretchen Ryan, had been supplying to her. The 55-year-old now faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with Grace’s death.
“Ryan and the victim frequently consumed alcohol and marijuana together and, beginning in September 2025, discussed the consumption and procurement of alcohol on an almost daily basis,” the DA’s office says. “According to investigators, 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.”
Police responded to the family’s Arvada home in the 6400 block of West 85th Avenue — about 12 miles north of Denver — after receiving a report of an “unresponsive juvenile female,” according to the DA press release.
Grace was found dead at the scene in a bathroom. An iPad discovered near her body allegedly revealed a disturbing string of messages exchanged between the teen and her mother, along with other digital evidence recovered by police.
“According to investigators, the victim’s documented communication with Ryan shows that in the months leading up to her death she was suffering from significant physical health concerns, due to the alcohol Ryan was allegedly providing her,” the DA’s office says. “The messages describe episodes of vomiting blood, difficulty eating, difficulty walking, and the use of diapers due to symptoms associated with excessive alcohol consumption.”
Investigators allege the communications show Grace “repeatedly expressed fears that she was going to die” and turned to Ryan for help. Messages exchanged the night before her death “indicate she continued communicating with Ryan about being sick,” according to the DA’s office.
“The victim’s last outgoing communication was sent to Ryan at 10:07 p.m. on March 8th from the victim’s iPad located near her body in the bathroom,” the DA’s office says. “Records indicate that subsequent messages sent from Ryan’s device went unanswered. 911 was not called until around 8:15 a.m. the following morning.”
An arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime lists the following messages that Ryan allegedly sent to Grace:
I can’t anymore. I’m killing you. We have to do something And I am going to jail.
Hard for me to sleep cause I’m so scared.
You wouldn’t do this to your child. I’m a f—ing disaster
Tried to be the cool mom and f—ed up
It’s child abuse and [redacted] Is going to put me in jail where o should be
Investigators allege that Ryan withdrew Grace from public high school last year to attend online school. At the time of her death, Grace had completed only one online semester of ninth grade and had not participated in any activities outside the home for several months. When detectives asked Gretchen whether she allowed Grace to drink, she allegedly replied, “If I was drunk, I probably might have let her,” according to the affidavit.
An autopsy determined Grace’s cause of death was “aspiration pneumonia related to chronic alcohol use,” according to the DA’s office. The manner of death was classified as “natural due to the volitional component of the alcohol consumption,” per the DA press release.
“Preliminary autopsy findings revealed the victim had an abnormally fatty liver for someone of her age, which medical professionals believed could indicate extensive and prolonged alcohol consumption,” the DA’s office says.
Ryan was arrested last month at her home and charged with second-degree murder by knowingly causing death. She is being held in the Jefferson County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond and is due in court June 17 for a preliminary hearing.
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