Former child star Daveigh Chase, who terrified viewers climbing out of a television screen in “The Ring” and voiced the lovable outcast Lilo in “Lilo & Stitch,” died of AIDS, the Los Angeles County medical examiner said.
The medical examiner’s report said Chase, 35, died at a hospital June 16. The report listed AIDS, which is caused by HIV, as the cause and chronic polysubstance use — using more than one drug or substance at the same time or within a short period — as a “significant condition.”
Chase’s father, John David Schwallier, told the New York Times shortly after his daughter’s death that she died of complications from bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. He told the outlet that Chase had battled with drug addiction and was homeless before her death.
Chase began her Hollywood career in the late 1990s, with minor roles in popular TV series including “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Charmed” and “ER,” and starred in multiple beloved films at the turn of the century. She played Samantha, the younger sister of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie Darko, in the 2001 cult classic of the same name.
The same year Chase voiced Lilo in “Lilo & Stitch,” she also played the iconic ghost girl Samara Morgan in the horror flick “The Ring.”
Chase told The Times in 2002 that she took her own voice “and put this freaky twist on it” to play the character. The performance earned her the award for best villain at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.
Staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.
