05 August 2020

Daisy Coleman from Netflix documentary ‘Audrie and Daisy’ dies aged 23, her mother reveals

Daisy Coleman, who was featured in the Netflix documentary Audrie and Daisy, has died at the age of 23.

Her mother, Melinda, confirmed the news to TMZ and posted on Facebook.

She said: "My daughter Catherine Daisy Coleman committed suicide tonight. If you saw crazy messages and posts it was because I called the police to check on her. She was my best friend and amazing daughter. I think she had to make it seem like I could live without her. I can’t. I wish I could have taken the pain from her! She never recovered from what those boys did to her and it’s just not fair. My baby girl is gone."

Daisy was raped at the age of 14 in 2012 at a house party in Missouri, but nobody ever faced trial over the incident. 

The documentary in 2016 followed how she and her family dealt with the traumatic attack on the young teenager. 

A year later, Coleman worked on the national campaign SafeBAE — Safe Before Anyone Else — to help prevent others from enduring sexual violence. They described her death as 'an irreplaceable loss’.

In an interview with Mailonline she said: “After my case went viral I took a break for a while, but during that time period I noticed a lot of other victims and survivors had come forward. Seeing me doing it so publicly, I felt like that gave them a space to tell their own story and I was really inspired by that.”

And of her ordeal, she added: “I feel no resentment towards my attacker, only because I have come to realise that he was only passing on some form of negativity to me which at some point was passed onto him so once I came to that realisation… that made me forgive him in a sense even though he never presented an apology.”

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email [email protected], visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

The best videos delivered daily

Watch the stories that matter, right from your inbox