Daveigh Chase Dies at 35: What We Know About the Lilo & Stitch and The Ring Star's Death
TL;DR — Daveigh Chase, the actress who voiced Lilo Pelekai in Disney's Lilo & Stitch and played the cursed Samara Morgan in The Ring, died on June 16, 2026, at age 35. The Daveigh Chase death was confirmed the following day by her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, who told TMZ she had succumbed to septic shock and organ failure stemming from meningitis and severe bloodstream infections she developed during a hospital stay in Los Angeles.
The Daveigh Chase death at 35 was confirmed on June 17, 2026, when her boyfriend Roy Hernandez told TMZ that she had died the previous day from septic shock and subsequent organ failure, complications of meningitis and systemic bloodstream infections she developed while hospitalized at Los Angeles General Medical Center. She was 35.
How Daveigh Chase Died: The Final Days at LA General Medical Center
According to multiple published reports citing Hernandez and the GoFundMe campaign he launched to cover her medical expenses, Chase was admitted to Los Angeles General Medical Center in early June 2026 for treatment of severe malnutrition following a period of extreme weight loss. During her hospitalization, her condition deteriorated rapidly after doctors diagnosed her with meningitis and several severe bloodstream infections. Hernandez publicly announced that her body had begun to shut down from septic complications. She died on June 16, hours after the fundraising page went live, with her death made public the following day.
A Breakthrough Run Between 2001 and 2002 That Defined a Generation
The Daveigh Chase death is hitting hardest among millennials who grew up with two of her most iconic performances arriving within months of each other. In 2001, at just 10 years old, she voiced the English-language version of Chihiro in Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and played Samantha Darko, the wide-eyed younger sister of Jake Gyllenhaal's title character, in Richard Kelly's cult psychological thriller Donnie Darko. The following year, in 2002, she booked the two roles that would define her public memory: the lonely Hawaiian heroine Lilo Pelekai in Disney's Lilo & Stitch and the drowned, vengeful antagonist Samara Morgan in the blockbuster horror remake The Ring.
For Lilo & Stitch, Chase shared an Annie Award voice-acting win and helped the film gross more than $273 million worldwide. For The Ring, she won Best Villain at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards, beating out older, more established nominees.
Why The Ring Made Samara Morgan an Icon of Early-2000s Horror
Long before Sadako Yamamura became a TikTok-era costume staple, Samara Morgan — the wet-haired, well-dressed ghost child who crawls out of a television set — was the defining horror villain of the early 2000s. The Ring grossed more than $249 million worldwide on a $48 million budget and kicked off a wave of American J-horror remakes. According to retrospective coverage, the role required extensive prosthetic makeup and physically demanding stunt work, and Chase, then 11, carried the entire marketing campaign on her shoulder.
The HBO Pivot: Rhonda Volmer on Big Love (2006–2011)
Chase gradually stepped away from major film work as she entered her teens, re-emerging in 2006 in what became her most sustained adult role: the chilling, sociopathic teenager Rhonda Volmer on HBO's polygamist-family drama Big Love, opposite Bill Paxton. Rhonda — introduced as a young bride of the compound's prophet, played by Harry Dean Stanton — was the kind of antagonist who could go from soft-spoken teenager to calculating manipulator within a single scene, and the role ran until the show's 2011 finale. It was, by general critical consensus, the last time American audiences saw Chase fully engaged with her craft at a high level.
A Quiet Withdrawal From Hollywood, Then Personal Collapse
After her final credited roles in 2016 — the thrillers American Romance and Jack Goes Home, plus a voice role in the video game Let It Die — Chase stepped away from acting almost entirely. By 2017, she had been arrested in Los Angeles on a felony charge after being found as a passenger in a reported stolen vehicle, and earlier that year she had been detained and questioned by LAPD detectives after dropping off an unresponsive man at a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead of a suspected drug overdose. In 2018, she was arrested again on misdemeanor drug-possession charges. The final decade of her life, by multiple published accounts, was marked by addiction, periods of homelessness on Skid Row and in downtown Los Angeles, estrangement from family, and a complete withdrawal from public view.
Fan and Industry Reaction to the Daveigh Chase Death
The news of the Daveigh Chase death at 35 prompted an immediate wave of tributes across social media, with fans and former co-workers alike pointing to the striking tonal whiplash of her breakthrough year — voicing one of Disney's most beloved animated heroines in Lilo & Stitch and then, within months, terrifying a global audience as Samara Morgan in The Ring. Commentators noted that the Lilo & Stitch franchise itself is in a commercially significant moment, with the live-action Disney remake arriving in 2025 and a sequel in development, which has only amplified attention on Chase's original performance.
Key milestones of her too-brief career to remember:
- 2001: Voiced Chihiro in the English dub of Spirited Away and played Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko
- 2002: Voiced Lilo Pelekai in Disney's Lilo & Stitch; starred as Samara Morgan in The Ring
- 2003: Won the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for The Ring
- 2006–2011: Played Rhonda Volmer on HBO's Big Love
- 2016: Final credited roles in American Romance, Jack Goes Home, and the video game Let It Die
Chase is survived by her mother, Cathy, and her half-brother, Cade, according to Hernandez's statement. A memorial fund established through the GoFundMe campaign continues to accept donations in her name.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Daveigh Chase's cause of death?
Daveigh Chase died from septic shock and subsequent organ failure caused by meningitis and severe systemic bloodstream infections, according to a statement her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, gave to TMZ. She had been admitted to Los Angeles General Medical Center earlier in June 2026 for treatment of severe malnutrition, and her condition deteriorated rapidly after the meningitis diagnosis. She was 35 at the time of her death.
When did Daveigh Chase die, and how old was she?
Daveigh Chase died on June 16, 2026, at the age of 35. Her death was publicly confirmed the following day, June 17, by her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, through TMZ. Hernandez stated that her bloodstream infections had led to septic complications that ultimately caused her body to shut down. A GoFundMe campaign he had launched just hours before her death remains active to help cover her medical and memorial expenses.
What was Daveigh Chase best known for?
Daveigh Chase was best known for two wildly contrasting 2002 roles: voicing the lonely Hawaiian heroine Lilo Pelekai in Disney's Lilo & Stitch, and playing the cursed, vengeful child Samara Morgan in the horror blockbuster The Ring. Earlier, in 2001, she had voiced Chihiro in the English dub of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away and played Samantha Darko in Donnie Darko. Her later career included the long-running role of Rhonda Volmer on HBO's Big Love from 2006 to 2011.
Was Daveigh Chase married, and did she have children?
No, Daveigh Chase was not publicly married and had no children. At the time of her death, her longtime partner was Roy Hernandez, who announced her passing to TMZ and organized a GoFundMe campaign to help cover her medical costs. According to published reports, Hernandez and Chase had been together through some of the most difficult stretches of her post-acting life, including periods of housing instability in downtown Los Angeles.
What happened to Daveigh Chase after she stopped acting?
After her final film and video game roles in 2016, Daveigh Chase withdrew almost entirely from public life and from the entertainment industry. According to published reports, the final decade of her life was marked by addiction, two arrests in 2017 and 2018 on drug-related charges in Los Angeles, prolonged housing instability including time spent on Skid Row, and estrangement from much of her family. In early June 2026, she was hospitalized in Los Angeles for severe malnutrition before being diagnosed with meningitis, which led to her death on June 16 at age 35.
References
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daveigh_Chase
- https://www.tmz.com/2026/06/17/daveigh-chase-dead-the-ring-lilo-and-stitch/
- https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/daveigh-chase-obituary?id=60837325
- https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/daveigh-chase-dead-the-ring-lilo-stitch-1236500000/
