Daisy Coleman

About Daisy Coleman

Catherine Daisy Coleman was an American sexual assault survivor and advocate. She became widely known after alleging she was sexually assaulted at age 14 in Maryville, Missouri, in January 2012, while intoxicated; the case drew national attention due to alleged mishandling by authorities, community backlash, and online bullying/harassment. She and her family relocated amid the fallout. Coleman co-founded SafeBAE (Sexual Assault Free Environment), a nonprofit focused on preventing sexual assault in schools and supporting survivors. She was featured in the 2016 Netflix documentary Audrie & Daisy (alongside Audrie Pott's story), which highlighted the impacts of assault, cyberbullying, and justice system failures on young victims.
She died on August 4, 2020, at age 23 in Denver, Colorado. Reliable sources—including Wikipedia, NBC News, CNN, BBC, her mother's statements, SafeBAE announcements, and major obituaries—confirm her death as suicide. Her mother, Melinda Coleman, posted on Facebook that Daisy was "brave but tired and scared," noting she never fully recovered from the trauma. Coleman had attempted suicide multiple times previously and struggled with ongoing depression, PTSD, and related effects from the assault and aftermath. (Tragically, her mother Melinda also died by suicide four months later on December 6, 2020.)