Daveigh Chase, known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, died June 16, 2026, at 35 after complications from meningitis that led to sepsis and organ failure. Her mother said she hadn’t seen her daughter since 2019 and learned of her death through media
By the time the news settled on June 16, 2026, it was already being described as a medical emergency with devastating consequences: Daveigh Chase had died at 35 after severe complications from meningitis.
Chase, best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, died after developing sepsis and organ failure following multiple infections, with hospital care in the weeks leading up to her death as her condition worsened.
In the days that followed, details about what Chase faced in recent years came into focus as more people tried to understand how a life defined by screen roles ended so abruptly.
Her mother. Cathy Chase. told the Daily Mail that she first thought her daughter’s death was fake news when she saw it. “I actually thought it was fake news, that first time I saw it,” Cathy said. “But then all of a sudden. it’s all of these different legitimate sites had her name and I realized that it wasn’t fake.” She also said she had not seen Daveigh since 2019.
Chase was born on July 24, 1990, and she was 35 years old when she died on June 16, 2026. Her career began as a child star, and she became widely known for multiple roles, including voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, portraying Samara Morgan in The Ring, and appearing in Donnie Darko.
Meningitis, as described by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is inflammation of the protective membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacterial. viral. fungal or parasitic infections. though some cases may also result from injuries. medications or certain medical conditions. The CDC says common symptoms include fever. headache and a stiff neck. along with nausea. vomiting. confusion and sensitivity to light. Symptoms can develop quickly and may become life-threatening without prompt medical care.
What Chase specifically had in her bloodstream has not been publicly disclosed. However, her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, claimed in a GoFundMe fundraiser that Chase contracted meningitis along with “several serious blood infections,” and that her condition eventually became “critical.”
Cathy Chase also spoke to the Daily Mail about struggles she said her daughter dealt with after a serious turning point in her life. She claimed that Chase battled addiction after being prescribed painkillers following a motorcycle accident about a decade ago. Cathy said Chase later began “seeking drugs” and “partying with the wrong people,” and that she experienced periods of homelessness.
The sequence of facts—meningitis complicated by sepsis and organ failure. hospital treatment in the weeks before death. and later revelations about years marked by addiction. homelessness and estrangement—leaves a picture that is hard to separate: medical crisis at the end. and a long stretch of hardship behind it.
Daveigh Chase Lilo & Stitch meningitis sepsis organ failure The Ring Donnie Darko Cathy Chase Roy Hernandez GoFundMe addiction homelessness