Daisy Coleman's Mom Melinda Dies by Apparent Suicide 4 Months After Her Daughter's Death
Daisy Coleman's Mom Melinda Dies by Apparent Suicide 4 Months After Her Daughter's Death
Melinda Coleman's son, Tristan, died in a 2018 car crash, and her daughter, Daisy, died by suicide in 2020
Four months after her daughter Daisy Coleman died by suicide, Melinda Coleman apparently killed herself Sunday night.
A posting on the Instagram page of SafeBAE, the sexual assault prevention organization founded by Daisy, announced the 58-year-old mother's death.
"We are in shock and disbelief to share with our SafeBAE family, that we lost Melinda Coleman to suicide," says the Instagram post.
Daisy's father died in a car accident when she was a child, and her brother, Tristan, died in a car accident in Kansas in 2018, the Kansas City Star reported.
"The bottomless grief of losing her husband, Tristan, and Daisy was more than she could face most days," the Instagram posts says.
Daisy was a subject of the 2016 documentary Audrie & Daisy, which focused on her allegation she'd been sexually assaulted and the ensuing harassment she received in her small town of Maryville, Missouri. She subsequently became a prominent advocate for sex assault survivors before her death in August at age 23.
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Daisy Coleman and her mother, Melinda Coleman
RELATED: Daisy Coleman, Featured in Netflix Documentary About Teen Sex Assault, Dies by Suicide at Age 23
When she was 14, Daisy alleged that she was sexually assaulted by Matthew Barnett. Afterward, she was left intoxicated, wearing only a T-shirt, for hours outside her home in sub-freezing temperatures. Barnett was never prosecuted.
The SafeBAE post says that "Melinda was a gifted veterinarian, devoted mother and wife, and talented body builder" who ”loved and believed in her children."
The post concludes: "It is no accident that she created some of the most gifted, passionate, and resilient children. Our hearts are forever with Logan and Charlie," Melinda's surviving sons.
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It was Melinda who revealed in August her daughter had died by suicide.
RELATED: Netflix's Audrie & Daisy Tackles Sexual Assault – and Surviving Assault – in the Age of Social Media
"My daughter Catherine Daisy Coleman committed suicide tonight," she wrote on Facebook. "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."
RELATED: Before Her Death, Daisy Coleman Said She Was Being Stalked and Harassed by Man She Knew
Shortly before her death, Daisy — who also modeled and worked as a tattoo artist — had filed a harassment complaint against a man she alleged had been stalking her for months.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
