Daveigh Chase, the actress best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and playing the terrifying Samara Morgan in The Ring, has died at 35.
Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed her death to TMZ. According to the report, Chase died Tuesday, June 16, after developing meningitis and a blood infection that led to sepsis and caused her body to shut down.
Chase had reportedly been admitted to a Los Angeles hospital earlier this month because of malnutrition.
The former child star became a household name in 2002 when she voiced Lilo, the lonely Hawaiian girl who befriends the alien Stitch in Disney’s animated hit Lilo & Stitch.
She later returned to voice the character in multiple projects, including Lilo & Stitch: The Series, which ran from 2003 to 2006.
That same year, Chase became unforgettable to horror fans as Samara Morgan, the chilling girl at the center of The Ring. Her performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.
Chase also voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away and appeared in Donnie Darko, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, ER, The Practice and Beethoven’s 5th.
One of her biggest television roles came on HBO’s Big Love, where she played Rhonda Volmer across the show’s five-season run.
Her later credits included Jack Goes Home, American Romance and the video game Let It Die in 2016.
Before her death, Hernandez created a GoFundMe to help with Chase’s medical expenses and wrote about the hardships she had faced away from the spotlight.
“Behind the scenes, she’s faced more than her share of hardship,” he wrote, according to reports. He said Chase had endured a difficult childhood, a painful falling-out with her family and struggles to find safety and happiness in downtown Los Angeles.
Chase also faced legal troubles after stepping away from Hollywood. In 2017, she was arrested on a felony charge for joyriding in a vehicle that had been reported stolen. She was released on $1,000 bond after spending two hours in jail.
The following year, she faced misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia.