Toddlers & Tiaras’ Kailia Posey Dead at 16

The TLC family has lost one of its own. 

Kailia Posey, who appeared on Toddlers & Tiaras as a child, has died, her mom confirmed on Facebook on May 2. She was just 16 years old. “I don’t have words or any thoughts,” Marcy Posey Gatterman wrote on the social media platform alongside a photo of her daughter Kailia. “A beautiful baby girl is gone. Please give us privacy as we mourn the loss of Kailia. My baby forever.”

A cause of death has not yet been shared publicly. E! News has reached out to local authorities in Las Vegas, where the family resides, and has not heard back. 

Kailia appeared on the TLC series alongside her mom Marcy, who trained her to be a contortionist. “When Kailia was younger, when she was 3, she started doing pageants,” Marcy said in a clip from the show, posted to YouTube. “She’s a pro when she hits that stage, she’ll say she’s nervous but once she hits that stage she’s a pro. She’s gonna beat you, every time.”