After Daveigh mostly retired from acting, she became embroiled in a series of legal issues and personal difficulties.
In 2017, TMZ reported she was charged with riding in a stolen BMW. She was then charged with possession of a controlled substance in 2018.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Cathy revealed her daughter’s addiction struggles began after a 2016 motorcycle accident, when doctors prescribed her painkillers.
“She was seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people,” she added. “I never kicked my daughter out. She wanted freedom, and these people got her hooked on some drugs. That was the beginning.”
The matriarch said she “tried desperately” to help Daveigh but explained people “can’t legally force someone who doesn’t want that help.” She added that the drugs left the former child star struggling with her mental health.
On the other hand, Daveigh’s father believed she had struggled with drugs since she was 13. John David and Cathy said the last time they saw and spoke to their daughter was when she was 19.
At that point in Daveigh’s life, her friend Shawn Rosenthal reportedly tried to get her the help she needed.
“She was an incredible singer, and we would play music together that, unfortunately, we never had a chance to record,” he told People. “I wound up getting clean in 2023, which is why I haven’t seen her since then.”
Daveigh’s pal continued, “Some of her sober friends and I were trying to find her and get her help, but to no avail. She was surrounding herself with the worst of the worst people. It’s such a tragedy because no one cared for her best interests at all.”
The New York Times reported Daveigh had been living with her boyfriend before her death.
In one of several GoFundMe pages set up to support Daveigh’s medical expenses, her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, revealed she had “a difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family.” He revealed she was diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections that led to her hospitalization.
“Her condition has become critical, and the doctors have told me she may not have much time left,” he wrote on the page. “All she ever wanted was a place where we could live together, feel safe, and be happy. Now, more than ever, I want to give her that sense of home and peace in her final days.”
In a text message, John David said he did not know “how much of a boyfriend [Hernandez] was to [Daveigh].”
“I seen a video of her in September. I don’t know why he wasn’t getting her medical help then,” the patriarch added.