Published 21:43 IST, August 6th 2020
What happened to Daisy Coleman? Assault survivor found dead at 23; Details here
Daisy Coleman, the 23-year-old sexual assault survivor from Netflix's 'Audrie and Daisy' has died by suicide. Find out what happened to her.
23-year-old Daisy Coleman was first featured in the 2016 Netflix documentary film Audrie and Daisy. The documentary revolved around Audrie Pott and Daisy Coleman, the sexual assault victims from America. Audrie and Daisy brought national attention to the issue of sexual assault on women and its psychological consequences.
In 2012 at the age of 15, Audrie Pott had committed suicide, following a sexual assault incident. Her story was narrated in the Netflix documentary by the people who were close to her, four years after her death. Daisy Coleman had narrated her own experience and struggles in the Netflix film.
Unfortunately, two years after the Documentary's release, Daisy Coleman’s mother Melinda Coleman revealed in a Facebook post made on Wednesday, August 5, that her daughter had died by suicide. While revealing the heartbreaking news, Melinda Coleman wrote, “My baby girl is gone.” Read on to find out, "What happened to Daisy Coleman? "
Daisy Coleman Death: What happened to Daisy Coleman?
In her 2016 Netflix Documentary, Daisy Coleman had alleged that she was raped at a party in Maryville, Missouri in 2012. Coleman revealed that the incident took place when she was just 14 years old and had attended a party. Coleman also revealed that another boy had recorded the sexual assault on his phone.
Following the assault incident, she was left outside in just a T-shirt in freezing temperatures. Daisy Coleman had revealed that her alleged assailant was then-19-year-old Matthew Barnett. Barnett was the grandson of a former Republican State Representative and was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault.
However, Daisy Coleman revealed that the charges were later dropped and a lesser misdemeanour charge of endangerment of a minor was applied to the case. Matthew Barnett was ultimately sentenced to four months in jail, which was reduced to just two years' probation. Barnett was then forced to pay $1,800 to Daisy Coleman in restitution.
Daisy Coleman’s Story: What happened when Daisy Coleman’s story went public?
According to a report by The Rolling Stone Magazine, after Coleman’s allegations went public, she was relentlessly bullied at school. The environment had gotten so toxic that it leads her to attempt suicide when she was just 16 years old. The report further claims that her home was also burned down.
In her grief-stricken Facebook post, Coleman’s mother claimed, that she wished she could have taken the pain from her daughter. She further went on to reveal that Daisy had never really recovered from what Matthew Barnett and the boys did to her.
Daisy Coleman had started an organisation
Daisy's horrific experience as a sexual assault had prompted her to create the sexual assault prevention organisation called SafeBAE, or Safe Before Anyone Else. She started the organisation in 2017 when she was only 20.
In an exclusive interview given to People Magazine in 2017, Coleman revealed that she has felt that people definitely have certain views and perceptions about her. She went to mention that she understood, that they were uneducated about sexual assault and its psychological consequences.
The young activist and tattoo artist claimed that this was the reason, she was trying to educate people about the reality of sexual assault. Here are some of Daisy's posts from her Instagram account.
Updated 21:43 IST, August 6th 2020