Lilo & Stitch star Daveigh Chase’s cause of death comes to light

Cause of Death: What Happened?

When news broke that Chase had died on the 16th of June, aged just 35, social media predictably erupted—partly because her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ she'd gone due to meningitis and sepsis from a blood infection. But that wasn't the full story.

Now, a couple of weeks down the line, the Los Angeles Coroner's Office has released the official report, and it changes a few things. Turns out Daveigh Chase—who was actually born Daveigh Elizabeth Schwallier—died from AIDS. The report spells it out as 'acquired immunodeficiency syndrome,' which is the most severe phase of HIV. That alone would've been headline-grabbing enough, but there's more.

The report also lists 'chronic polysubstance use' (translation: long-term varied drug use) as a significant factor that contributed to her death. The LA medical examiner said she died in a hospital, with the manner of death pegged as 'natural', which, if you're as cynical as I am, seems a bit odd when drug addiction and AIDS are involved, but that's how these things are classified.

Chase's Career: From Breakout Stints to Sudden Withdrawal

For anyone who missed the early-2000s cultural bus—Chase notched up over 50 credits across film, TV and a surprising number of voice roles. She kicked off as a seven-year-old in 1998, making a guest appearance on 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch'—which raises the bar for how young you can get typecast in Hollywood.

But things snowballed from there, and by 2001 she was playing Samantha Darko, the younger sister to Jake Gyllenhaal in 'Donnie Darko'. Not bad for a pre-teen, eh?

Then came the big one: she voiced Lilo in Disney's 'Lilo & Stitch' (2002), which was absolutely everywhere for about five years—and long enough to win her an Annie Award for Outstanding Voice Acting. It's one of those rare bits of casting where the voice really stands out, and they kept bringing her back for all the straight-to-DVD sequels and the Disney Channel spinoff series, too.

If you watched Disney Channel in the 2000s, you heard her. But in a funny twist, she didn't pop up in the 2025 live-action remake, which—because there's absolutely no taste in this business—became one of the biggest hits of the year without her involvement. Slightly criminal, to be honest.

She'd already been in another legendary voice role just before that, playing Chihiro Ogino (the main character) in the English dub of Miyazaki's 'Spirited Away', which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and basically melted everyone's brain who saw it.

And in case you only know her face: she was your nightmare fuel as Samara Morgan, the wet-haired creep in the 2002 horror phenomenon 'The Ring'. That scene with the telly—yep, her.

• 'Sabrina the Teenage Witch' (1998, first TV acting credit, age 7)
• 'Donnie Darko' (2001, Samantha Darko)
• 'Spirited Away' (2001 US release, voice of Chihiro)
• 'Lilo & Stitch' (2002, voice of Lilo + all the sequels and series bar the 2025 remake)
• 'The Ring' (2002, Samara Morgan)
• 'American Romance' (2016, indie thriller)
• 'Jack Goes Home' (2016, indie thriller)
• 'Let It Die' (video game, voice work)

Life After the Spotlight

After a solid string of roles—her last credits seem to dry up around 2016 with a couple of indie films and some games—Chase more or less disappeared from the industry.

Sadly, things looked pretty bleak outside showbiz. According to her estranged father, John David Schwallier (who spoke to The New York Times), she was homeless and fighting long-term drug addiction before she died. There’d already been tabloid reports about her falling on difficult times, but the official record now paints an even starker picture.

Official cause, per the medical examiner: 'Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome' with a significant side order of long-term substance misuse.