Amanda, a woman who was one of the subjects of the Soft White Underbelly series on YouTube, has passed away at age 25, according to a video update from the channel.
On Saturday, May 15, Lima Jevremovic appeared alongside Amanda’s father on Soft White Underbelly to speak about Amanda’s death. Lima, who helped Amanda get into treatment and organized a Go Fund Me for her future recovery efforts, explained how Amanda, who was in a treatment facility, was found unresponsive in her bed on May 9. Mark Laita, a photographer and the creator of the YouTube series, said in a statement to E! News, “Until Amanda’s autopsy is finished we won’t know exactly what caused her death on Sunday (5/9). All we know is they’ve ruled out drugs or foul play. We should know more in the next week or so.”
A resident of Skid Row in Los Angeles, Amanda first shared her story with the world in December 2019. She spoke about her addiction to crack cocaine as well as her experience with sex work. In one of the videos, Amanda is seen with a black eye, and is unable to recall whether she had spoken with Mark previously.
In April 2021, Soft White Underbelly shared a video of Amanda in which she explained she was now receiving treatment, with the assistance of Lima, who helped organize and pay for her recovery efforts.
Amanda appeared hopeful about her future. “I want people to see that it takes time and effort,” she explained. “Being sober and being in recovery are two different things. I am in recovery. I just want to make action and do the things so that I can stay sober for the rest of my life.” In addition to her addiction to drugs, she shared that she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, which is one of the reasons she wanted to stay sober.