Daisy Coleman, Subject Of Netflix Documentary 'Audrie & Daisy', Dies By Suicide At 23

Daisy Coleman, an advocate for rape survivors and the subject of the Netflix documentary "Audrie & Daisy," has taken her own life.

Her mother, Melinda Coleman, confirmed her daughter’s death in a Facebook post Tuesday, Aug. 4. Daisy was 23 years old.

"My daughter Catherine Daisy Coleman committed suicide tonight," Melinda wrote in a post.

Daisy’s body was discovered after her mother requested a welfare check on her.

"If you saw crazy…messages and posts it was because I called the police to check on her," the post read.

Daisy became the subject of national attention in 2012. She was just 14 years old when 17-year-old Matthew Barnett allegedly raped her at a Missouri house party after she blacked out from alcohol. Melinda found her daughter the next morning, lying on the porch in freezing temperature wearing just a T-shirt and sweatpants.

"When my mom got me undressed for a bath to warm me up, she saw that I was red and swollen around my vagina. She immediately took me to the hospital, where doctors confirmed our worst fears—the night before, they said I had been raped," Daisy wrote on Seventeen magazine in 2013.

"I had lost my virginity in the worst way imaginable, and I had no recollection of it at all," she wrote.

Barnett was arrested and charged with felony sexual assault. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of misdemeanor child endangerment and was let go. He claimed that the act had been consensual.

People were "calling me a bitch, a whore, and a slut every single day … What I went through wasn’t okay, and it’s not okay if it happens to other girls," Daisy wrote.

Her family argued that Barnett was set free because of his family’s connection with a former Republican state representative.

"People sided with him, they attacked me nonstop on Facebook and Twitter because they thought I was lying. They said horrible things, like how I should slit my wrists and kill myself," she wrote. "I've never been the sensitive type, but when you hear awful things about yourself everywhere you go, you can start to believe them. I started to wonder if what happened to me was my fault."

In 2014, she was hospitalized after a failed suicide attempt. She had tried to end her life twice before the 2014 incident.

"She never recovered from what those boys did to her and it’s just not fair. My baby girl is gone," Melinda 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!"

In 2016, Daisy showed up on the Netflix documentary "Audrie & Daisy," which also centered on 15-year-old Audrie Pott, who was sexually assaulted by three boys in 2012. Audrie killed herself eight days after the alleged rape.

Daisy co-founded SafeBAE, a nonprofit organization for helping sexual assault survivors.

"She had many coping demons and had been facing and overcoming them all, but as many of you know, healing is not a straight path or any easy one. She fought longer and harder than we will ever know. But we want to be mindful of all the young survivors who looked up to her," the foundation wrote on its Facebook page.

"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," the post read.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.