KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Melinda Coleman, the mother of advocate and sexual abuse survivor Daisy Coleman, has died by suicide, according to multiple reports. She was 58.
Her death comes four months after her daughter’s suicide.
“We are in shock and disbelief to share with our SafeBAE family, that we lost Melinda Coleman to suicide this evening,” SafeBAE, a group that Daisy Coleman co-founded to help victims of sexual assault, posted on Facebook on Sunday night. “The bottomless grief of losing her husband, Tristan, and Daisy was more than she could face most days.”
SafeBAE said that Melinda was a gifted veterinarian and talented body builder, as well as a devoted mother and wife.
“More than anything, she loved and believed in her children,” SafeBAE wrote. “It is no accident that she created some of the most gifted, passionate and resilient children.”
Her daughter, Daisy Coleman, was the subject of a 2016 Netflix documentary called “Audrie & Daisy,” which followed her family as they dealt with the hostile reaction of the Maryville community to her allegations.
In January 2012, Daisy, then 14, and a friend snuck out to attend a party at the home of Matthew Barnett, then 17.
Daisy said she was raped in a bedroom after being given a clear liquid. A second boy recorded the act on his cell phone, though officials said during the investigation that the video no longer existed.
The boys then left her on the porch, where she was found several hours later in freezing temperatures.
Barnett admitted to having sex with Daisy but said it was consensual. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of child endangerment and was sentenced to two years of probation.
Both the Nodaway County prosecutor and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, appointed as a special prosecutor, determined there had not been enough evidence to pursue a rape charge.
When announcing the death of her daughter on Aug. 4, Melinda Coleman wrote that Daisy “never recovered from what those boys did to her.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with funeral expenses.
—The Associated Press contributed to this report
If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
