Daveigh Chase's mom requests late 'Lilo & Stitch' star's $400K estate
The mother of late "Lilo & Stitch" star Daveigh Chase filed a petition to be appointed administrator of her daughter's estate following her death last month.
Cathy Chase issued the request at the Los Angeles Superior Court on July 8, a filing obtained by USA TODAY shows. "The Ring" actress' estate is worth $400,000, according to the filing.
Daveigh Chase, 35, died at a Los Angeles hospital on June 16 from AIDS, according to the Los Angeles medical examiner, who listed chronic polysubstance use as a significant condition.
Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, told TMZ at the time that the cause of her death was meningitis and an infection in her blood. The outlet reported that she had been admitted to a hospital for malnutrition earlier in the month.
The actress was best known for voicing the young Hawaiian heroine Lilo in the original Disney animated film "Lilo & Stitch" and the creepy horror villain Samara in 2002's "The Ring." She landed her first big Hollywood role playing Jake Gyllenhaal's younger sister, Samantha, in the 2001 psychological thriller "Donnie Darko."
'I will live forever feeling I failed her'
Cathy Chase revealed in a Daily Mail interview that her daughter had long struggled with drug addiction after doctors prescribed her oxycodone and other painkillers following a 2016 motorcycle accident.
"She was completely gone, like, out of her mind. The drugs took hold of her," she told the outlet.
Daveigh's father, John Schwallier, confirmed that the actress was homeless and living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died.
Cathy Chase said her daughter had several encounters with law enforcement and that Daveigh was never diagnosed with any mental health problems aside from PTSD from the crash, but told the Daily Mail that "I honestly thought there was something wrong with her."
According to the Daily Mail, Daveigh went to jail in 2019 after she had been charged with two counts of burglary. Cathy Chase said she would visit her regularly, and from July 2023 to January 2024, they discussed living together after her release. The outlet reported she last saw her daughter briefly in 2025 before losing contact.
"But when I got there, she never waited. She went back to the streets and I couldn't find her," she added. "I will live forever feeling I failed her because they told me the wrong time when she was released [from jail] all those years ago."
Cathy Chase said she searched for her daughter in Los Angeles' Skid Row to no avail. She later learned of her daughter's death after multiple news reports and went to the hospital to identify Daveigh's remains, where she prayed over her body.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Daveigh Chase's mom requests late 'Lilo & Stitch' star's $400K estate
Reporting by Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect
This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 9:48 PM.