Six weeks after his unexpected death, the mother of teen B.C. actor Logan Williams has revealed the cause of his death.
Marlyse Williams said a preliminary toxicology report showed that her son died as a result of a fentanyl overdose during an in-depth interview with the New York Post published on May 15.
Logan purportedly struggled with drug addiction for three years before his death on April 2 — a week before his 17th birthday.
The Coquitlam-born actor was best known for playing the young version of the titular DC superhero, Barry Allen, in CW’s The Flash. He also had minor roles in series like Supernatural and When Calls the Heart.
Marlyse said Logan’s death was “not going to be in vain” and that “he’s going to help a lot of people down the road,” before expressing her goal to raise awareness of Canada’s opioid epidemic.
The grieving mother told the NY Post that before getting involved in harder drugs, Logan’s addiction began with marijuana at the age of 13, a time where Marlyse said his acting auditions seemingly became “way too stressful” for him.
She added that she tried to keep Logan’s addiction “under wraps” from friends, family and industry executives just to avoid “judgement,” “embarrassment” and “criticism.”
Marlyse said that the last time she saw Logan, he told her he wanted to “get clean.”
“Mom, I’m gonna get clean. I’m going to get better. And I want my new life to start,” the late actor reportedly said to his mother on March 30 — three days before his death.
Between January 2016 and September 2019, more than 14,700 opioid-related deaths were reported in Canada, according to the government of Canada.
More than 2,900 of those incidents took place in 2019, with 94 per cent of them reportedly being accidental.
Though those numbers have continued to increase in other regions — Ontario, notably — Western Canada remains the most impacted area of the country, the report adds.
After her interview with the NY Post, Marlyse took to Facebook on Saturday elaborating further on Logan’s drug addiction and how she did “everything (in her) power to help” her son.
“My friends and family are fully aware of the desperate measures I took to help,” she wrote before emphasizing that Logan’s addiction was not brought on by his busy acting career.
“I want to be clear that acting had nothing to do with the path he went down. He very much enjoyed his minor roles and loved being on set. It was his happiest times,” Marlyse said.
“Logan was raised with lots of love, laughter and an amazing supportive family,” she added.
Re-iterating her goal to bring attention to the opioid epidemic in Canada, Marlyse wrote: “Laws need to change! For starters, our punishment on drug dealers is a simple slap on the wrist. We need long, tough sentences for drug dealers that are actively destroying our youth.”
“A young person doesn’t know what rock bottom is,” she continued. “The drugs nowadays is an instant death sentence. It’s handing a loaded gun to a kid whose brain isn’t fully formed.
“There is an enormous stigma to addiction and mental health even by medical professionals! It’s this giant epidemic that everyone wants to turn a blind eye to until it hits your family.
“I will do everything in my power to create a legacy to help others, change laws and anything I can to create positive change out of Logan’s tragic death.”
Days after Logan’s death, Marlyse told Global News that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic put his funeral plans on hold, forcing her to grieve alone.
She told the NY Post she had no idea when or how Logan got involved with fentanyl.
Are you or someone you know struggling with addiction? Here is a list of resources you can use to get help.
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