Her son was found dead after a Vegas party. She demands answers.

USA Today

10 hours ago

A Nevada mother is pushing for transparency after her son attended a pool party, was reported missing, and was found dead in the pool the next morning.
Christina Todd-Dunn said her son, TayShaun Todd, hardly partied, knew how to swim and was a good kid. On June 18, the 20-year-old ended up dead in a Las Vegas pool at a home where police had allegedly shut down a party and searched the premises.
Todd-Dunn's son left for the party on June 17, and when a friend of his told Todd-Dunn he couldn't find the 20-year-old, she panicked and went looking for him. Despite asking police to search the home where the party was held, her son's body wasn't found until the next day, Todd-Dunn said.
The house where the party was held is a two-story home with a pool located in the backyard, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY.
A 27-year-old man was taken into custody just before 4 p.m. on June 18 in connection with the illegal party, according to the documents. He has been charged with operating as a professional promoter without a valid license and engaging in business without a promoter license, the records show.
Police decline to comment
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has declined to comment on the case and hasn't said how Todd ended up in the pool. According to his mother, authorities told her they think he must've returned to the site of the party after they searched the house, then fallen into the pool somehow.
Todd-Dunn previously told USA TODAY that her son did not know the man who hosted the party. She added that her son's death could've been prevented, and that police failed to act quickly enough and search the home thoroughly.
She has filed a complaint with the police department's internal affairs department, she said, which can take up to 90 days.
'If y'all (police) did (drop the ball), just say that,' she told USA TODAY on Aug. 15. 'We should've handled it differently. I don't want what happened to me and my family to happen to another family.'
When questioned about the handling of the case, Las Vegas police directed USA TODAY to fill out a request for public records and documents. When requesting the police bodycam footage from that night, USA TODAY received a price quote ranging from $1,170 to $1,759 for making a copy of the footage, as well as $63 per 911 call.
Man disappeared after party was broken up, friend says
Todd-Dunn said her son, TayShaun, wasn't much of a partier. He worked at the Harry Reid International Airport, helping with security, pushing those with disabilities in wheelchairs, and cleaning. Three weeks before his death, he had been offered a teaching assistant job at his former school, Pinecrest Academy of Nevada at Cadence.
On June 17, his friend called and said he'd seen posts about a party on Instagram, and he wanted to go, she recalled. There were about 300 people there.
Todd's friend told police the party was advertised as having an open bar. Tickets were $15 and when he and Todd arrived, the host was patting guests down to check for weapons. Once the check was complete, a girl at the party gave them bracelets and let them enter, per an arrest report.
According to police, multiple people jumped into the pool around 9 p.m. that night, and Todd was last seen around 9:30 p.m. Shortly after, the police arrived and the host told everyone they had to leave, per the arrest report.
Todd's friend called his family when he couldn't find the 20-year-old, his mother recalled. She rushed to the home where the party was held.
'My heart completely dropped'
Todd's mother started calling police shortly after 11:30 p.m. and told police her son was missing without his keys, his phone, his shoes or his car.
Per the police report, an officer showed up around 1:22 a.m. An officer and a sergeant went to the home, got permission to search the inside and the backyard.
'Officers (checked) the residence and did not see (TayShaun),' the report read, although Todd's mother said she was there as police searched and she did not see them search outside.
His mother said police asked her about possible drug use, mental health issues, and whether he could be with a girl. Todd-Dunn stayed out all night trying to find him, and the next morning, she again asked investigators to search the home before returning to the house herself.
Around 12:30 p.m. on June 18, the day after the party, someone at the home called police about a dead body in the pool. That caller stated that the person in the pool may have been the one the police were searching for the night before, according to an arrest report.
'As soon as I hit that corner, I saw ambulances, fire trucks, and I saw that yellow tape,' Todd-Dunn told USA TODAY. 'My heart completely dropped.'
Fire personnel told her they couldn't pull her son out of the water due to the amount of time he'd been in the pool, she said.
Todd-Dunn said for weeks, her son's body was 'on hold' at a funeral home. His body wasn't released for cremation until the end of July, over a month after he died, his mom told USA TODAY. She has received conflicting reports from police about whether a criminal investigation is underway, she said.
Dunn was about to start a new job, wanted to work in sports management
Todd-Dunn remembers her son, the grandson of two pastors, as 'amazing.' He liked football, baseball, track, and basketball, although basketball was his favorite.
He was attending the College of Southern Nevada, studying business management with a minor in sports management, his mother said. He saw a future for himself working in the NBA someday. He was supposed to start his new job at his old high school on Aug. 1.
She believes if her son were white, the search for him would've been handled differently, she said on Aug. 15.
'If it was a white boy, a white girl, I'm telling you, it'd be breaking news,' his mother said. 'They say black lives don't matter, and I feel like I'm living it right now.'
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. You can email her at [e-mail].