Daveigh Chase, best known for playing Samara Morgan in the horror film The Ring, died of AIDS aged 35 at a Los Angeles hospital on 16 June 2026, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed. Chronic polysubstance use was listed as a significant contributing factor. Her death was recorded as natural.
Final Weeks Battle
Chase spent her last weeks hospitalised with meningitis, a blood infection, and sepsis, according to her boyfriend Roy Hernandez. He described a heartbreaking period marked by serious illness and distress. Hernandez ran multiple GoFundMe campaigns seeking financial help for her medical care.
Struggle With Homelessness
The couple had experienced homelessness in downtown Los Angeles in recent years. Hernandez spoke of her estrangement from family and her long fight to find safety and stability. He said: “All she ever wanted was a place where we could live together, feel safe, and be happy.”
From Child Star To Obscurity
Chase rose to fame in 2002 for her chilling role as the ghost Samara in The Ring, one of the decade’s biggest horror hits. Her other credits included Lilo & Stitch, Donnie Darko, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, ER, and Big Love. She gradually faded from public life after 2013, with her last red carpet appearance in April that year and her final social media posts in 2017.
Legal Troubles
In 2017, Chase had several unfortunate encounters with police, including being arrested in Los Angeles over joyriding in a stolen vehicle. She was also questioned after dropping an unconscious man outside a hospital; he later died from a drug overdose. These incidents cast a shadow over the final years of her life.
