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Daveigh Chase, who originated the voice of Lilo in Lilo & Stitch and is behind one of the great female horror movie villains, The Ring’s Samara Morgan, died at the age of 35 on Tuesday due to complications with meningitis. Hours before her death, her alleged boyfriend Roy Hernandez posted a GoFundMe page asking for support following her medical condition becoming “critical”. But the late actress’s former manager and longtime friend, John Ryan, is asking fans not to donate to the page.
The GoFundMe has raised $4,064 after over 100 donations, mostly from fans of Chase who expressed their heartbreak and love for the actress who was the voice behind the English dub for Chihiro in Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved film Spirited Away. However, Ryan is urging fans that giving money to Hernandez won’t go toward expenses for Chase. Per his statement to Deadline:
Daveigh’s estate has plenty of means to pay for the cremation.
According to Ryan, Chase’s father John Schwallier is her “next of kin,” and he never signed any paperwork for Roy Hernandez. As he explained:
That GoFundMe is not going toward ANY expenses for Daveigh. Myself, her father, her uncle and all of us close friends who knew her for decades are encouraging people not to donate to this page. This man making these claims brought her into the hospital in terrible condition and didn’t let any of the family know until she passed so he can control the dialogue. Daveigh’s actual family is handling all arrangements, we have contacted go fund me to let them know this man started this page on his own under Daveigh's name when she was already unresponsive and urging people to report the page and not donate.
The donation page includes various photos of what certainly seems to be Daveigh Chase alongside Roy Hernandez sharing kisses and cuddling pets together. In Hernandez’s message on the GoFundMe, he wrote that Chase had a “painful falling out with her family” and when he met her he “promised to protect her and give her the love and comfort she deserved.” The page doesn’t detail how the donations would be used except to “give her that sense of hope and peace in her final days”.
Between Roy Hernandez and John Ryan’s comments, there’s certainly conflicting information going on here. Ryan also wrote this:
I find it disgusting that this man is using our friend’s tragic passing to get a few bucks for he and his family. There are no medical bills to be paid or funeral expenses. Myself and the family are handling all of those costs. As far as I’m concerned with the condition this man brought her to the hospital, he should be in jail. Myself and the family are sickened at the condition she was in before she passed. This guy’s trying to make it look like a Romeo and Juliet situation to benefit his own pockets.
Daveigh Chase was born in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24, 1990 to Cathy Chase and John Schwallier. By the age of 7, she was accumulating acting credits, starting with a small role on Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, The Practice and ER before being cast in movies like Donnie Darko and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Her most well-known roles were in the original Lilo & Stitch and one of the best horror movies, The Ring, of course, around the same time.
Chase continued to be an actress in her adulthood until 2017, when she was arrested in Los Angeles on a felony charge after being caught riding in the passenger seat of a stolen vehicle. A few months later, she was arrested twice for drug possession. She reportedly had long struggled with drug addiction and homelessness in Los Angeles before her death this week.
John Ryan also called the GoFundMe situation “so sad” before saying the late actress “was the sweetest girl who mixed up with the wrong crowd.” Meanwhile, Hernandez is saying that it’s “100 percent” false to say his GoFundMe is invalid. So, as this situation develops, we'll be sure to keep you posted.
