Subject Of 'Audrie & Daisy' Teen Sex Assault Film Takes Her Life

Daisy Coleman, the subject of a Netflix documentary on the rape of teenage girls and the driving force behind an advocacy group to help other young victims of sexual assault, has died at age 23. He mother said she died by suicide.

Coleman helped found SafeBAE (Before Anything Else), a peer-to-peer, survivor-led national organization whose mission is to end sexual assault among middle and high school students.

“She fought longer and harder than we will ever know,” SafeBAE said in a statement on Twitter. “But we want to be mindful of all the young survivors who looked up to her. Please know that above ALL ELSE, she did this work for you."

Melinda Coleman announced her daughter’s death in Denver in a Tuesday Facebook post. She had asked police there to check on her well-being.

“She was my best friend and amazing daughter,” Melinda Coleman wrote. “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," the post continued. "My baby girl is gone.”

Daisy Coleman was 14 in January 2012 when she snuck out of her mother’s home with a 13-year-old friend and attended a house party in Maryville, Missouri, at the home of Matthew Barnett, who was 17 at the time.

Coleman alleged she was given alcohol and raped by Barnett while a 15-year-old boy did the same to her friend and a third teen video-recorded the encounters, according to a 2013 story in the Kansas City Star. Melinda Coleman told the newspaper she found her daughter in the yard the following morning.

Investigators said the video was never found. Both boys initially were charged with serious crimes, but prosecutors dropped felony charges two months later, raising accusations that they bowed to political pressure. Barnett is the grandson of a respected former Missouri state representative and state trooper. Prosecutor said the charges were dropped because the Colemans stopped cooperating with investigators, The Associated Press reported.

The younger youth’s case was handled in juvenile court. Barnett pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child endangerment charge and was sentenced to two years of probation. A four-month jail sentence was suspended.

He admitted he had sex with the girl, but claimed it was consensual.

Daisy Coleman’s allegations against Barnett and the cyberbullying, harassment she and her family received after going public brought national attention to the small northwest Missouri town, rallying sexual assault victim advocates across the country and sparking demonstrations.

Coleman appeared in the 2016 Netflix documentary “Audrie & Daisy,” which told the story of two teens who were sexually assaulted by boys they thought were their friends and then were bullied online and harassed by their communities.

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The other girl featured in the story was Audrie Pott, a 15-year-old from Sarasota, California, who said she was sexually assaulted by three boys in 2012 and died by suicide days later.

After the documentary premiered, Coleman went on to help found SafeBAE.

SafeBAE said in Twitter that Coleman “fought for many years to both heal from her assault and prevent future sexual violence among teens. She was our sister in this work and much of the driving force behind it. We were not just a non-profit team, but a family.”

Coleman had been “working on her triggers and healing from the many traumas in her life,” the group said, “but as many of you know, healing is not a straight path or an easy one.”

“She loved talking to young people about changing the culture and taking care of one another. Much of her healing came from each of you," the group said. "She was so proud of the work we’ve done and loved seeing so many fierce young activists push for change in their schools and among their friends.

“She would want young survivors to know they are heard, they matter, they are loved, and there are places for them to get the help they need. And she would want everyone else — peer allies, educators, parents, legislators, religious leaders to come together to help stop sexual violence and help save teen lives. As advocates we know survivors of sexual assault are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide than those who haven’t experienced sexual assault, and that is why we will keep dedicating ourselves to this work in her legacy. There’s no question that is what she would want.”