Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of suicide and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.
In 2016, the Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy told the heartwrenching story of two girls, Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman. Per the documentary, both girls were sexually assaulted when they were minors. Unfortunately, Audrie died by suicide after suffering abuse and shame from her peers. However, Daisy Coleman told her story with sensitivity and opened up about the abuses that she and her family endured. Four years after the documentary, Coleman ended her life by suicide.
According to the documentary, Daisy Coleman sneaked out of her house and met her friend before arriving at a party. TIME Magazine reported that the duo partied with high-school boys. After drinking too much, Coleman passed out, and that’s when the sexual assault happened. Per The Guardian, Coleman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a senior male named Matthew Barnett. The accused then left her outside her house in the cold. Moments later, her mother discovered Coleman outside the home wearing only a T-shirt.
The documentary also revealed that Daisy Coleman accused Matthew Barnett of sexual assault. However, he claimed that the sex was consensual and denied leaving her outside her house. Citing her mother, The New York Times mentioned that Daisy Coleman suffered harassment in school and online after the incident. However, in January 2014, Barnett pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and received a sentence of two years in probation, per CBS News.
Later, Coleman relocated to Albany and became an advocate for other survivors, and worked on a campaign called SafeBAE. However, in August 2020, Coleman’s mother shared that her daughter died by suicide at the age of 23.
What was Daisy Coleman’s cause of death?
According to Daisy Coleman’s mother, Melinda Coleman, she died by suicide. She confirmed the news of Coleman’s death on her Facebook and called her an “amazing daughter.” She wrote, “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.”
CBS News reported that Melinda Coleman found out about her daughter’s death after she couldn’t contact her. The outlet mentioned that she contacted the police and requested them to check on her. After her death, two of Daisy Coleman’s friends told People Magazine that she was being stalked and harassed by a man before her death. Her friends also revealed that police knew about the alleged harassment. However, authorities claimed that Coleman filed a report on the day of her suicide. Authorities also revealed that Daisy Coleman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Coleman’s friends also criticized those who blamed her death on the sexual assault that happened in 2012. Citing the friend, People Magazine noted, “Every media [outlet] is blaming her suicide on her rape, and ignoring that she was going through so much before her suicide, and not putting any blame on this man for harassing her. She would rather kill herself than let this man kill her.” Additionally, the publication went through her social media updates, in which she claimed that she couldn’t leave her house because of an alleged stalker. Moreover, she claimed that the stalker came to her house and repeatedly pounded on the door.
According to the police, Daisy Coleman died after a welfare check. Just four months after her death, Coleman’s mother, Melinda Coleman, died by suicide, reported NBC News. She was 58.
Audrie & Daisy is available to stream on Netflix.
