Daisy Coleman’s mom Melinda wrote about holding her daughter’s ‘cold, dead body’ before taking her own life
Daisy Coleman's mom shared several heartbreaking posts on Facebook about losing her daughter to suicide just hours before taking her own life.
Melinda Coleman, 58, reportedly died by suicide in her Sugar Creek, Missouri home yesterday just four months after her daughter died in the same way.
The Sun has contacted local police for comment.
Just four months earlier, her daughter , 23, who starred in the Netflix show Audrie & Daisy, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her Denver, Colorado home while on a FaceTime call to her boyfriend.
"There aren’t enough I love yous I could have said when I was holding your cold, broken, dead body," Melinda's last public Facebook post read on Sunday.
"I held you like a baby anyway, my baby.
"The baby I held when you first came into this world.
"It has always been my greatest honor and joy to be your mother and best friend. Mama bear!"
One day prior, Melinda wrote noted that it had been exactly four months since Daisy had died.
"My baby girl left this world with a broken heart and spirit," she wrote.
"Out of hope and full of despair. She took all her pain and worked to help others.
"Many used her and still are stealing her pictures and quotes simply for their own gain. The narcissists and users that have nothing to say so they steal her.
"The line became very blurred on some “friends”, others truly loved her. More than she could see in that terrible moment.
"All she could see was the continued harassment and cruelty and the damage sustained to her poor little body.
"I’d like to challenge everyone to be kind and lift up others in pain, especially sexual assault survivors and those hopeless in this holiday season.
"Send out light and love and protect each other and I will protect and pray for anyone who needs it.
"Let’s make this a Daisy Day filled with light, hope and love. Let’s work toward a justice system that stops failing the victims of rape. Let’s fill today with Daisy's light and love!"
Melinda, who also lost her husband and one of her sons, , in separate deadly car crashes decades apart, has been drowning in grief for years, according to friends.
"You win Albany. I'm dead," she wrote in a Facebook post on November 18.
Albany is the town where Daisy was allegedly raped by high school football player Matthew Barnett in Albany.
Barnett claimed that the sex was consensual and was not ultimately charged with sexual assault.
The tragedy divided the small town and many people who were critical of Daisy's decision to come forward turned on the family and relentlessly bullied them online.
Melinda previously claimed the family was driven out of the town after Daisy came forward with the rape allegations and their home was burned down.
Safebae cofounder Shael Norris told The Sun that "there was still a lot of animosity" from some people in the town who continued to "spread rumors" about the family to this day. She said that "absolutely" contributed to her friend's death.
"I think that's when she just felt overcome by a lot of the (criticism)... it's hard to face that," Norris said.
"There were a lot of people angry with her and Daisy for bringing a negative spotlight on the town.
"People thought she lied and made things up.
";They had a very small town mentality about these things.
"Some people are just awful people.
"If you don't have your community lifting you up and supporting you and helping you through hard times that compounds everything."
Norris has set up a to raise money to support Melinda's two surviving sons.
In the days leading up to Melinda's death, she shared old posts from Daisy's account and wrote that she "just need(s) to cry for a while Missing my babies".
"I miss you extra lots today," she wrote in another post with a picture of Daisy on December 1.
Another read: "God has given me every single thing I wished for and dreamed of. My soul mate and 4 beautiful children. It just never seemed long enough.....I wanted it forever!"
In an Instagram post on Sunday, a SafeBae spokesperson said the organization was "in shock and disbelief to share with our SafeBae family, that we lost Melinda Coleman to suicide this evening".
"The bottomless grief of losing her husband, Tristan and Daisy was more than she could face most days," it read.
"Melinda was a gifted veterinarian, devoted mother and wife, and talented body builder.
"More than anything, she loved and believed in her children.
"It is no accident that she created some of the most gifted, passionate, and resilient children."
The statement also mentioned Melinda's two surviving sons Logan and Charlie.
It added: "Our hearts are with Logan and Charlie. There are no words for our sadness, only that if you are struggling with trauma or depression, you are not alone.
Sindy Strader, a close friend of Melinda's, said she was devastated.
"Why didn’t you call me? You promised me you wouldn’t do this, I will miss you so much my beautiful, sweet, heartbroken friend," she wrote in a Facebook post after learning of her friend's tragic death.
"I’m at such a loss for words right now. I can’t even imagine how she was feeling in her last minutes. It so breaks my heart. She was so loved but couldn’t feel or see it because she was so broken. She carried on as long as she could."
Daisy alleged she was raped by a high school football player Matthew Barnett in her hometown of Albany, Missouri when she was just 14.
And when she pressed charges against the popular athlete, the teen was bullied relentlessly online which led her to attempt suicide multiple times.
The 23-year-old never overcame her battle with depression.
On August 4, body was discovered at an apartment in Lakewood, Colorado, after her mother requested police do a welfare check.
Cops were called on a "possible suicidal party," Police Department spokesperson John Romero told .
Yet, Daisy spoke with officers and crisis prevention paramedics for more than an hour – but never said or did anything indicating she wanted to harm herself, police said.
Because of this, Daisy could not be legally held for mental health problems and she was cleared by medics, according to TMZ.
However, hours later at 8.30pm, cops reportedly got a call from a female friend in the same apartment building saying that Daisy had shot herself.
Melinda later publicly confirmed her death.
The 23-year-old was one of the girls featured on which detailed her and friend Paige's alleged sexual assaults when they were 14 and 13, respectively.
Before her own death, the family worked "so hard" to keep the Daisy alive.
Asked what is getting her through each day, Melinda said: "Each other. We worked so hard, so many years of counselling, we did everything we could to keep her alive.
"Looking back on it now, it is pretty overwhelming. If there is never going to be justice for young people like Daisy, this will always be the outcome.
"I just think even in death she's making her mark, things need to change or this will continue to be the trend."
Melinda said she felt her daughter's suicide was a result of a "perfect storm" as she was and doctors had recently told her she couldn't have children, likely a result of her sexual assault.
While no one was convicted in her case, pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child after he supplied Daisy with booze and left her in "sub-freezing" temperatures outside her house.
An additional charge against another boy who allegedly filmed a sexual encounter between Daisy and Barnett was also later dropped.
Melinda said the tattoo parlor Daisy worked at in Denver, Colorado, was broken into just days after her death, with thieves making off with her sketchbook and tattoo machine.
"We are missing a lot of her sketches, a report was filed but we haven't heard anything else yet," she said.
Melinda, a veterinary nurse, had a handwritten note from her daughter, 'Love, Daisy', inked on her wrist using some of her ashes.
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Daisy's brother Logan also has a tattoo in her honor while some of her ashes were buried after her funeral.
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Around 200 people gathered to say goodbye to Daisy in Albany, Missouri in August.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.