Shocking Revelation: Cause of Death for Lilo & Stitch Star Daveigh Chase, Dead at 35

The details surrounding the death of Lilo & Stitch actress Daveigh Chase have now been disclosed.

Chase is renowned for her role as the voice of Lilo in the 2002 Disney animated classic Lilo & Stitch. On June 17, 2026, her partner, Roy Hernandez, announced that she passed away at the age of 35 on June 16. He attributed her death to meningitis and a subsequent blood infection that caused septic complications and eventual organ failure.

However, records from the Los Angeles County medical examiner obtained by Deadline indicate that her death was due to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), coupled with chronic substance use. The hospital’s initial assessment had categorized her death as natural.

Chase began her acting career at the tender age of 7, initially appearing in commercials and theater productions. By age 8, she secured television roles on shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Charmed, The Practice, and ER. Her early movie career included playing Samantha Darko in the 2001 cult film Donnie Darko, a character who is the younger sister of the main character portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal.

In 2002, Chase voiced the protagonist Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki’s celebrated film Spirited Away, which was released by Studio Ghibli in U.S. theaters. That same year, she appeared as Samara Morgan in Gore Verbinski’s horror film The Ring. She continued her role as Lilo in several related movies and TV series from 2003 to 2006, including Stitch! The Movie, Lilo & Stitch’s Island of Adventures, and Leroy & Stitch, as well as two seasons of Lilo & Stitch: The Series, totaling 38 episodes.

Following these roles, Chase portrayed the sociopathic character Rhonda Volmer in the HBO series Big Love, appearing in 32 episodes across four seasons. In 2009, she returned to her role from Donnie Darko in the direct-to-DVD sequel S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale. Her last credited acting roles were in the films American Romance and Jack Goes Home in 2016.

Following her death, Hernandez established a GoFundMe to cover expenses, however, Chase’s former manager, John Ryan, advised fans against contributing. He stated that Chase’s estate could fully cover the costs of her cremation and that her father, John Schwallier, was her next of kin and had not authorized Hernandez to act on his behalf. Hernandez responded to these claims by stating to TMZ that they were “100 percent false.”