Daisy Coleman's mom felt ‘driven out’ of Albany after rape claims, wrote 'Albany wins, I’m dead' before suicide
The mother of Netflix star Daisy Coleman, who died by suicide months after her daughter’s Facetime suicide, has written “Albany wins, I’m dead” weeks before she killed herself. Melinda Coleman died on Sunday evening, December 6, after she allegedly felt defeated by the town, where her dead daughter supposedly faced sexual assault. Daisy – who starred in the 2016 Netflix documentary 'Audrie & Daisy' – was found dead on August 4, 2020, at her Denver, Colorado home. She reportedly shot herself while on a FaceTime call to her boyfriend. Now months after, her mother killed herself at her Missouri home. The devastated mother’s friends said that she was in immense grief for years after losing her daughter and her husband and one of her sons, Tristan Ash Coleman, in separate deadly car crashes years apart.
It has been said that when Daisy came forward claiming her rape at the hands of high school football player Matthew Barnett in her hometown, Albany, the community started questioning her. The 23-year-old was just 14 when she was allegedly raped. Things became worse when Barnett was not charged with sexual assault. Another boy, who allegedly made a video of the assault, was also not eventually charged. People started bullying Daisy and her family online and called them liars.
Eventually, the young advocate could not bear the allegations and killed herself. Reportedly, similarly, Melinda also died the same way and weeks before her death, on November 19, she posted on Facebook: “Albany wins. I’m dead.”
The Sun quoted Safebae cofounder Shael Norris, who said 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. Continuing further, Norris explained, "If you don't have your community lifting you up and supporting you and helping you through hard times that compounds everything. 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. I think that's when she just felt overcome by a lot of the (criticism)... it's hard to face that."
She added that the mother was in a "severe depression about the loss of Daisy compounded with the loss of her husband and son. She tried very hard to hang on for her other sons and in the end, those demons were profound and very hard to navigate. I don't think anyone involved could say this is a shock, as much as it is. She didn't explicitly say she planned to kill herself, but she did indirectly, she would say: 'I don't know how to hang on'."
Apart from that post, Melinda had shared several emotional posts on Facebook before she died. One of her posts along with Daisy’s picture read: “The most beautiful girl in the world. My heroic daughter who saved so many and suffered more than anyone ever should. We failed her. She did great things for us and we failed her. Especially me. You are my bright shining star and my reason to live. I always wanted a little girl and you were the best. Not sure I know how to be one without you but I’ll do my best. I love you Belle.”