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Demri Lara Parrott Murphy (February 22nd 1969 – October 29th 1996) was an international American adult/glamour model, fashion model, artist, poet, fashion designer/stylist and muse, and an amateur actress, girlfriend and later fiancée of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley. She struggled with addiction and its consequent ill-health for much of her adult life.
Demri was born in Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA, 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
Demri Lara Parrott Murphy (February 22nd 1969 – October 29th 1996) was an international American adult/glamour model, fashion model, artist, poet, fashion designer/stylist and muse, and an amateur actress, girlfriend and later fiancée of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley. She struggled with addiction and its consequent ill-health for much of her adult life.
Demri was born in Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA, 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. She had three younger half-brothers from her mother’s side, Devin Remme, and Derek and David Murphy; and a younger half sister from her biological father’s side, Christa Dougherty. She didn’t met her biological father and half sister until she was an adult.
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.
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).
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 well known and had numerous friends that she touched with her charismatic and enchanting personality. Most of her friends described her as a very sweet and beautiful person, kind, peaceful and artistic.
Demri was bisexual, and she was a nudist.
She met musician Layne Staley of Alice in Chains at a store called “Saturdays” where she was working, in 1988. According to David de Sola’s book “Alice in Chains: The Untold Story”, it was love at first sight. They started dating around spring or summer that year.
She is thanked in the liner notes of “Facelift”, which was released on August 1990. 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.
Layne Staley and Demri Parrott were, according to close friends and bandmates, described as perfect for each other and the term “soulmates” has been used more than once to define their relationship. They were engaged to marry on 1992. David de Sola writes in his biography of Alice in Chains: “They had chosen the place called Kiana Lodge on Bainbridge Island [Kitsap County, Washington] as the wedding venue.” Demri did pick out a dress, and Alice in Chains’ band member “Mike Starr said he was going to be best man at Layne and Demri’s wedding.”
Both Demri and Layne became drug addicts, hooked to heroin. Although she went to rehab several times, it didn’t work to her, and sometimes had to turn to theft and prostitution to get some money for the drugs. 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.
However, in the years that followed “Dirt"’s success, Layne and Demri drifted apart, and their engagement broke sometime in 1994, although 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 (Layne was the lead singer with Pearl Jam’s guitarist Mike McCready, drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees and bassist John Baker Saunders). Mad Season released only one album, “Above”, in March 1995.
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). She had open heart surgery and had a pig valve and pacemaker inserted in her heart in 1994. 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.
At the time of her death, she was clean, but for her last hours, she was at a friend’s house, who took her to Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington, and recognized too late that she wasn’t doing well on the pills she’d ingested. Demri lapsed into a coma and spent the last 12 hours of her life unconscious in an intensive care unit at Evergreen Hospital, with only her mother and her aunt by her side, before doctors turned off the life-support machines on the morning of October 29, 1996. Her cause of death was an accute intoxication and the combined effects of opiate, meprobamate and butalbital. She was only 27.
Alice in Chains manager Susan Silver told journalist Greg Prato in his book “Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music” that she was the one who went to Layne’s apartment to tell him that Demri had died. Friends comment that after Demri died, Layne was put on suicide watch for 24 hours.
Demri Parrott was buried at the Miller-Woodlawn Memorial Park in Bremerton, Kitsap County, Washington, USA. Her memorial service took place on November 2 at Neighborhood Christian Center, and donations were made to Harborview Adult Medicine Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation, Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Washington.
Demri had a cat, Sadie. After her passing, Layne looked after him.
De Sola writes in “Alice in Chains: The Untold Story”: “People who knew very well Layne and Demri, in general, agreed and told me that Layne never surpassed Demri’s death. He was already quite reclusive in 1996" … “The last time Demri’s mother, Kathleen Austin, saw Layne Staley, was in 1997. He wanted a teddy bear that Demri Lara Parrott 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.
Layne and Alice in Chains’ bassist 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.
While watching “Crossing Over”, Layne 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 relayed the story to David de Sola (and it was corroborated by musician Jason Buttino). She said she believes 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. Alice in Chains’ guitarist Jerry Cantrell took care of the cat Sadie when Layne died.
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