Advocate in Netflix documentary on sexual assault dies at 23
LIBERTY, Mo. — An advocate for sexual abuse victims who became the subject of a Netflix documentary after alleging she was sexually assaulted at 14 has died by suicide, according to her mother and a co-worker.
Melinda Coleman, the mother of Daisy Coleman, announced her daughter’s death Tuesday on Facebook. She was 23.
“She was my best friend and amazing daughter,” Melinda Coleman 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.”
Daisy Coleman, who grew up in Missouri, was found dead in Denver after her mother called police to check on her, said Shael Norris, executive director of SafeBAE, a group Daisy Coleman co-founded to help young victims of sexual assault. Ms. Norris said she heard the news from Ms. Coleman’s brother.
Ms. Coleman appeared in a 2016 Netflix documentary “Audrie & Daisy,” which followed her and her family as they dealt with her assault and the hostile reaction to her allegations in Maryville, Mo.
The film won a Peabody Award as “an honest, heartbreaking, and timely tale of sexual assault and social media and the repercussions it can have on young lives.”
She acknowledged in online comments that she had tried to kill herself at least twice before.
The other girl featured in the documentary, 15-year-old Audrie Pott, died by suicide days after she said she was sexually assaulted by three boys in September 2012 in Sarasota, Calif.
Ms. Coleman became the driving force behind the formation of SafeBAE after the documentary, said Ms. Norris, who called her death “an irreplaceable loss.”
“She was really, really good at what she did,” she said, because teenagers who have been assaulted knew she understood their problems.
“It’s a huge loss for the culture in general because I think it was her resilience that has inspired so many other survivors to get help and speak out,” Ms. Norris said.
On Jan. 8, 2012, Ms. Coleman and a 13-year-old friend sneaked out of Daisy’s house and were picked up by Matthew Barnett, who was 17 at the time, and some other boys. They took the girls to a party at Mr.
“It’s a huge loss for the culture in general because I think it was her resilience that has inspired so many other survivors to get help and speak out.”
Shael Norris
Barnett’s house.
Ms. Coleman told investigators she was given a clear liquid before being raped in a bedroom while a second boy recorded the act on his cellphone. Officials said during the investigation that the video no longer existed. The boys then left her on her porch where she stayed in freezing temperatures for several hours before she was found.
Mr. Barnett admitted having sex with Ms. Coleman but said it was consensual.
Her case was taken up by sexual assault victim advocates across the country and prompted rallies and outrage, particularly after a Kansas City Star report on the residents of Maryville reacting negatively to the Colemans.
Mr. Barnett pleaded guilty in January 2014 to a misdemeanor child endangerment charge and was sentenced to two years of probation and a four-month suspended jail term. His sentence came after Nodaway County’s then-prosecutor, Robert Rice, and Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters-Baker both determined there was not enough evidence to pursue a rape charge. Ms. Baker was brought in to reopen the case after the Colemans and others criticized Mr. Rice for dismissing a felony charge against Mr. Barnett.
Melinda Coleman alleged the prosecutor dropped the felony charge because of political pressure — Mr. Barnett’s grandfather was a four-term Missouri state representative who was a state trooper for 32 years. Mr. Rice said he dropped the charge because the Colemans stopped cooperating with his investigation.
Afterward, Melinda Coleman said that the family received threats and that she was fired from her job as a veterinarian at a clinic.
In April 2013, their house in Maryville — which had been vacant and for sale — burned down. The state fire marshal said that “due to the unsafe nature of the structure, a detailed examination could not be conducted, and this fire loss is being listed as undetermined.”
SafeBAE wrote on Twitter, “As all of our supporters know, Daisy has fought for many years to both heal from her assault and prevent future sexual violence among teens. She was our sister in this work and much of the driving force behind it.
“She had many coping demons and had been facing and overcoming them all, but as many of you know, healing is not a straight path or any easy one. She fought longer and harder than we will ever know.”