41-Year-Old Mother Theresa McIntosh Passed Away After Having an Argument With Her Teen Son – Details

When deputies rushed to a quiet address, a mother was still breathing, and a teenage boy was at the scene. But the story of what supposedly happened inside the home didn't make any sense, and then the investigation began.

Theresa McIntosh, 41, died in a hospital after she was found shot in her home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 7, 2026. At first, authorities were told she tried to end her own life, but as the case unfolded, it became clear that something entirely different took place in that house.

A Morning That Ended in Disaster

According to the sheriff's office, deputies responded to the 2300 block of Pine Avenue at about 12:47 p.m. that Saturday.

Inside the home, they discovered McIntosh with a visible gunshot wound to the back of her head. She was unconscious but still breathing. She was taken first to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, then flown to UC Health in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Sadly, she later died from her injuries.

Police also arrested a minor at the location. But as the suspect is a juvenile and the case involves sensitive details, authorities chose not to release the names of those involved or list any potential charges at first.

But the court filings that followed painted a heartbreaking and deeply disturbing picture of what allegedly happened in those final hours. And it all appears to have started with a family argument and issues that had been building for some time.

And those details have finally been revealed.

Court documents explained that McIntosh's 14-year-old son, Havoc Leone, was arrested and charged with felony first-degree murder. The same report stated that he was being charged as an adult and could face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Investigators said the case was initially reported as a suicide. However, that changed as deputies and medical staff began examining the scene and the accounts of those involved more closely.

The Fight That Set Everything in Motion

There had apparently been tension in the house over a stolen tablet computer. Documents say Leone had allegedly taken the device from a client of McIntosh's house-cleaning business, and his parents had been discussing whether to report the theft to law enforcement.

Leone's father, McIntosh's common-law husband, also told deputies the family had dealt with similar situations before, with the teen allegedly stealing devices in the past.

It was also revealed that, during the fight, McIntosh reportedly called Leone two offensive words: a slur for people with disabilities and "thief."

But his father never expected the violence that would take place afterward.

What Happened Inside the Home

Around 11:30 a.m. that Saturday, Leone's father went to the basement of the home to play video games, according to the court records. McIntosh then went into her son's room to finish a puzzle, while Leone had been told to work on his homework.

Roughly 15 minutes later, Leone's father said he heard a "pop," but because he was wearing noise-canceling headphones, he thought it was a balloon. That assumption would not last long.

When he later went upstairs to the main level, he reportedly saw Leone standing on the landing outside his bedroom. He asked what had happened, and the teen allegedly replied, "I don't know, it just went off."

At about 12:46 p.m., Leone's father went to get his cellphone from the basement and called 911. Then, in a scene described in the documents, he returned upstairs and tried to help McIntosh, who was unresponsive, pressing a towel to her head.

The Gun That Should Not Have Been There

Near McIntosh on the floor, beside the puzzle, was her black Taurus 9mm handgun. That detail immediately confused Leone's father, according to the documents, because he told deputies the gun was usually kept in McIntosh's Mini Cooper.

He claimed that while she stored a full magazine in the firearm, she never actually cocked the weapon to put a bullet in the chamber. Investigators later alleged the weapon had been taken from her vehicle earlier.

Additional reporting in an affidavit said Leone had stolen the gun from the glovebox about a week before the shooting, though he reportedly was not sure exactly when. The affidavit also said he took it after a "big fight" that began when he received a "D" in math.

That detail only added to the weight of what investigators would soon allege next. Because by then, the explanation of a gun simply "going off" was already being tested against the physical evidence.

Why Investigators Began to Doubt the First Story

Deputies had initially responded to what was reported as a suicide, but the investigation evolved into an attempted homicide case because of what they found. According to the court documents, McIntosh's wound was behind and above her right ear, near her neck.

Medical staff at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center reportedly noted that the wound did not appear to be a contact wound, something usually associated with self-inflicted gunshot injuries.

Detectives and medical personnel also did not observe an exit wound, which the filing said would normally be expected in a close-contact shooting.

That was a major turning point in the case. And once investigators pressed further, the version of events allegedly changed, too.

The Account That Changed Everything

Court documents state that Leone first maintained McIntosh had shot herself. Later, authorities say, he finally admitted that he shot her with her own gun during an argument over the infamous stolen tablet.

The records say McIntosh had demanded the password to the device, and Leone told detectives it was written in a notebook kept in his closet. When he went to get that notebook, he allegedly also retrieved the gun, which he had hidden in one of his shoes.

According to the affidavit, "He retrieved the firearm from his boot … and positioned it down by his side." Investigators said he then kept it concealed from his mother's view while throwing the notebook toward her.

The court filing goes on to say that when McIntosh bent down to pick up the tablet or notebook, he shot her in the back of the head while holding the gun with both hands.

One of the most chilling lines from the documents states:

"He was angry right before he shot Mcintosh and couldn't tell her how much he hated her because she doesn't understand him."

The filing adds, "He was mad (that) McIntosh was calling him names."

And unfortunately, this wasn't the first time he had stolen the gun. Legal papers show that Leone confessed to grabbing the gun the first time he considered ending her life.

He also admitted that he had thought about murdering McIntosh many times before. These thoughts usually happened when she asked him to do things he didn't want to do.

A Father's Shock and a Case Still Echoing

Leone's father reportedly told police he did not want to say what he feared had happened in his son's bedroom. In words that captured the horror of the moment, he allegedly said, "I don't want to think what I think happened ... I don't even want to put it into words."

He continued, "... and I don't want to think that because it's a really [expletive] up thing for a parent to think ..." He also reportedly told law enforcement, "It'd be a lot easier to accept that she killed herself than my son tried to kill her."

The father also said his son was familiar with firearms and understood basic gun safety, including that a firearm should not be pointed at someone unless the shooter intended to fire.

According to him, McIntosh sought psychiatric treatment and used prescribed medication, yet he noticed no signs of recent suicidal ideation or troubling behavior.

For now, the loss of McIntosh has left behind a case filled with grief, shock, and painful questions. We offer our condolences to all those affected by this tragedy.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "help” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741, or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.