Trivia

Toddler Demri in the early 1970s, shared by her cousin Kaytie Lee.

  • Demri was the biological daughter of Kathleen Ann née Austin and Dennis Wayne Dougherty, but at the time of her birth, her 18-year-old mother had been married to Stephen John Parrott, aged 21, for 21 days. He adopted her and her birth name became Demri Lara Parrott. 
  • Demri could communicate and socialize beyond her years. As a three-year-old, Demri was tested by experts at the University of Washington, who told her parents she had the vocabulary of a high school senior, but her exceptional language skills weren’t always well received by adults or other children.
  • She didn’t met her biological father Dennis and her younger half sister Christa Dougherty until she was an adult.
  • In the 1980s Demri was adopted by her then step-father Dennis Murphy and she used his surname too, going by Demri Murphy but never legally changing her name.
  • She moved around to different high schools in the 1980s. She studied at the Arlington High School, Washington (1984 – 1986); the Lakewood High School, Arlington, WA (1986); and the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville, Florida (1985 – 1989).
Little Demri in the mid 1970s, shared by her cousin Kaytie Lee.

  • She was of Native American (Cherokee), Irish, Scottish, remote Welsh, English, and Swiss-German descent. 
  • She was tiny (around 4'11", 150cm or 5’, 152 cm), dark-featured, with long dark hair and dark eyes.
  • Demri was passionate about many things and excelled in art and theater. She was interested in philosophy and poetry, and loved to collect vintage clothes, make decoupage, write poetry and play in front of the camera. 
  • Demri was bisexual, and she was a nudist.

Summer 1988 - Demri and Layne Staley, by Randy Hauser.

  • Demri met Layne Staley in 1988 and they were engaged to marry in 1992. He had bought her a claddagh ring (an Irish ring who symbolizes love, friendship and loyalty) The chosen place was Kiana Lodge on Bainbridge Island (Kitsap County, Washington), and Mike Starr was going to be the best man, but their engagement broke somewhere in 1994.
  • She is not, as widely but wrongly believed, the woman on the cover of Alice in Chains’s album “Dirt”, released on September 29, 1992, that is model and actress Mariah O'Brien.

Demri and Nave Navarro in Harborview hospital in 1994, for rehab.

  • Demri became hooked on heroin and when she struggled with addiction she ended up homeless, often couch surfing from place to place and staying with different friends and family before moving on, and carrying most of her valuable things in her suitcase.
  • Demri suffered endocarditis (an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium, that can be caused by a bacterial infection. Risk factors include intravenous drug use). None of her close people or even doctors knew at first,it was Dave Navarro who told them about the condition. She had open heart surgery and had a pig valve and pacemaker inserted in her heart in 1994, leaving a big scar The previous year she had suffered pancreatitis. It made a toll in her tiny body and doctors knew she wouldn’t make it. Demri was in and out of the hospital for the last couple of years of her life.

Mad Season's "Above", art by Layne Staley inspired by a photo by Krista Kay.

  • She features in the cover of Mad Season’s “Above” (Mad Season was an American rock super group formed in 1994 as a side project of members of other bands in the Seattle grunge scene that included Layne), released in March 1995.
  • Demri went to rehab several times, but it did not work for her. Not long before her death, Demri had checked out of a hospital and spent about a month in a nursing home, where most of the patients were senior citizens.

Demri in the February 1997 issue of US Penthouse magazine. Purchased and shared by Little Queenies and Memories of Demri.

  • She appeared, posthumously, in a pictorial on the February 1997 issue of Penthouse magazine. She had died 5 months prior, on October 29, 1996.
  • The last time Demri’s mother, Kathleen Austin, saw Layne Staley, was in 1997. He wanted a teddy bear that Demri had and who had stayed with her at the hospital.
  • Layne Staley believed that the ghost of Demri visited him just days before his April 2002 death. He and Mike Starr were watching television on April 4, 2002, the day before Staley died of a heroin overdose. Layne was flipping through the channels and stumbled on the John Edward show “Crossing Over”, on which a medium claimed to speak to audience members’ dead relatives. He then turned to Mike and said, “Demri was here last night. I don’t give a fuck if you fucking believe me or not, dude. I’m telling you: Demri was here last night.” Demri’s mother, Kathleen Austin, heard this story from Starr after Layne’s death and she believed her daughter was there that night “to be there with Layne as he’s doing his transition.”

  • Layne Staley died aged 34 on April 5, 2002 due to an overdose, and his funeral was held at the same place he intended to marry Demri, Kiana Lodge on Bainbridge Island. Demri’s mother, Kathleen Austin got that teddy bear back after being found in the things Layne left after his death. She also has Demri’s engagement ring that Layne gave her.