The boyfriend of former child star Daveigh Chase has spoken out about her final days following her death from AIDS at age 35.
Chase, best known for her role in the 2002 horror film The Ring, died on June 16, 2026. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office, she died from AIDS, with chronic drug use listed as a contributing factor.
Her passing triggered a bitter backlash against her 38-year-old boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, whom her family and former manager accused of attempting to profit from her death. Critics questioned why Hernandez launched a GoFundMe appeal just before she died when Chase possessed a Screen Actors Guild trust account for medical expenses, and accused him of leading her deeper into drug addiction.
In an exclusive interview in Elysian Park in Los Angeles, Hernandez, sporting a cursive "Daveigh" tattoo above his eye, hit back at the accusations. He revealed that he proposed to Chase in 2024 and insisted he should inherit her $400,000 estate.
Relationship and Nomadic Life
Hernandez recalled meeting Chase for the first time in 2021 at a mutual friend's house. He said he had no idea she was a celebrity, noting she had short hair and had not acted in a movie since 2016. "We hung out the whole night," Hernandez recalled, adding that they became a couple within two months.
Her family claimed Chase was already deeply troubled when they met, living on Skid Row and moving between tents across Los Angeles while addicted to drugs. Hernandez rejected that account, stating they were never homeless and lived together by choice for five years in his RV.
He described a nomadic lifestyle featuring road trips with their two dogs and visits to his mother's home in East Los Angeles for home-cooked meals and showers. In 2024, Hernandez proposed to Chase and said she accepted. In February 2026, he had her name tattooed above his eye, which he said surprised and pleased her.
Addiction Allegations and Health Decline
Hernandez denied responsibility for Chase's drug use or standing by while her health deteriorated. "Anybody who knew us out there, they would know," Hernandez said. "Especially when it came to me, they would know that I would never let that happen. It's 100 percent not true."
He admitted knowing Chase smoked drugs, including fentanyl, before they began dating. He claimed Chase used drugs to cope with painful memories, including an alleged 2021 incident in which she said she was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by an unidentified man in a Los Angeles hotel. She never reported the alleged assault to police.
"She was trying to forget her past and what she went through. She said it made it easier for her," Hernandez claimed, adding that he spent their relationship attempting to keep her away from drugs.
Chase's mother, Cathy Chase, stated her daughter's downward spiral began after a 2016 motorcycle accident injured her back. Prescribed powerful painkillers, Chase developed an addiction that escalated to stronger substances. From 2018 to 2024, Chase was repeatedly arrested and jailed in Los Angeles on drug possession and other charges. Cathy visited her behind bars in 2019 and barely recognized her.
Disputed Condition in Final Months
In video footage filmed in 2025, Chase appeared severely emaciated. Her father, John Schwallier, stated the video made Hernandez's account difficult to believe. "[Roy] had to have known how sick Daveigh was because in that video, she looked to be only 80 pounds," Schwallier said. Cathy Chase similarly described her daughter in the video as "nothing but skin and bones."
Hernandez insisted Chase was fed and cared for, but acknowledged she sometimes hid food and resisted hospital treatment. He claimed he and his mother encouraged her to go to the hospital, but she refused. "I could only tell her so much. You can't force somebody to go if they don't want to go," he said.
Hernandez said he chose to speak out so fans would know Chase was cared for and surrounded by him and his family during her final years.
Legal Battle Over $400,000 Estate
Chase died leaving an estate valued at approximately $400,000, consisting of uncollected residuals from commercials, films, and television shows. At a court hearing on Wednesday in Downtown Los Angeles, her parents and their attorneys informed a judge they plan to file competing petitions for control of the estate.
Her former manager, John Ryan, has also entered the legal fight. Ryan filed a court declaration supporting a fiduciary to serve as administrator and is seeking funds he claims his management company is owed from representing Chase.
Hernandez claimed Chase rarely spoke about her father because her mother allegedly told her he was dead. Schwallier claimed his former wife kept their daughter away from him for years.
Hernandez claimed Chase feared collecting her residual checks because she believed her mother would find out and "go crazy" trying to take them. He alleged that while Chase was in jail, her mother suggested she give her money to her younger brother because she was "over here doing nothing with it," prompting Hernandez to advise Chase: "Don't listen to your mom."
Hernandez claimed Chase wanted her estate to go to him or animal charities rather than her parents. "She and I never really cared about the money," Hernandez said. "I know she probably would've wanted me to have it, but that's what we had talked about previously. She wanted to take the money and go on trips, to take us away from here." Hernandez has not yet filed court documents seeking any funds.
Final Days and Hospital Care
Questions surround Chase's background and health timeline. Hernandez pleaded no contest to a 2024 firearms possession charge and was sentenced in March 2026 to three days in jail. Asked about his criminal past, Hernandez refused to comment. When asked about his health, he replied, "I'm OK."
It remains unclear when Chase contracted HIV or when her diagnosis progressed to AIDS, and her full autopsy report and toxicology results remain pending. Questions also remain over how long she had been ill before entering the hospital.
Chase spent her final two weeks in June in the hospital. Hernandez described her condition as "up and down," recalling dried blood and sores filling her mouth while she struggled to communicate. On June 15, the day before she died, Hernandez launched the GoFundMe appeal, which raised $4,500. He claimed he has not received any of those funds and stated they discussed the campaign to help her live comfortably after discharge.
The next morning, her condition deteriorated rapidly, and doctors informed Hernandez she had only hours to live. "The next day is when they called me and they told me in the morning that she had like only hours," Hernandez said. "I was like, 'What do you mean? She was perfectly fine when I left!'"
Sitting in Elysian Park, Hernandez recalled her final words before she died: "She told me, 'I'm not afraid.' She said, 'You're not afraid either, right?' I told her, 'No, you're right. I'm not afraid.'"
