'The Flash' Star Logan Williams' Mom Reveals 16-Year-Old's Cause of Death
The death of actor Logan Williams, who starred as a young Barry Allen in the CW television series “The Flash,” was caused by an overdose, according to his mother.
Williams died on April 2 at the age of 16.
In an interview with the New York Post, Marlyse Williams said preliminary results show her son, who battled addiction for three years, died of an overdose of fentanyl. She did not release the cause of her son’s death last month.
The young Canadian’s acting career began when he was about 9 years old, she said, and then took off with roles in Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart,” ABC’s “The Whispers” and CW’s “Supernatural.”
His biggest role came in the first two seasons of “The Flash,” when he played a young Barry Allen.
“He really, really enjoyed the acting,” his mother told the Post.
“I know there’s a stigma of child stars, but he was not a star. He was up and coming,” she said, adding that at about the age of 13, her son took a break from the stress of auditions and performing.
Around that time, she found out he he was using marijuana, his mother said. Other drugs followed, including opioids.
Her son “was in complete denial because he was so ashamed,” Williams said.
She said that over the three years of his addiction, she remortgaged her home to afford treatment in the U.S., and sent him last summer to a facility in British Columbia for a month. He was living in a group home at the time of his death, Williams said.
“I did everything humanly possible — everything a mother could do,” she said.
“I did everything but handcuff him to me to try to keep him safe,” Williams added, noting that she also tried to keep his addiction “under wraps” from everyone she could, including those in the entertainment industry.
“Logan was always hoping to get back into acting, music or whatever future he wanted,” she said. “We didn’t want people to know because of the judgment, because of the embarrassment, because of the criticism. We wanted it to go away.”
Mother and son last saw each other on March 30, Williams added.
“He said to me, ‘Mom, I’m gonna get clean. I’m going to get better. And I want my new life to start.’ I just know the last thing we said to each other was, ‘I love you,’” she said.
Williams said that seeing her son’s dead body “was as gut-wrenching as hearing that he died. It was horrific. Horrific. He was cold.”
“But I have to say I feel like he was restless and he needed me to tell him it’s OK to let go and that the pain is over and he doesn’t have to hurt anymore.”
It is with the saddest of heart that I learned my When Calls The Heart brother Logan Williams passed away yesterday. He was a fun, intelligent leader and sweet young man about to turn 17 this month. My family and I will miss him and our love and thought… https://t.co/DjtJu60z6I pic.twitter.com/1GniOgsy0z
— Gracyn Shinyei (@GracynGirl) April 3, 2020
Logan was a beautiful, warm, silly, and talented young man. He could always make us laugh. He was just shy of 17 and had what I’m sure would have been a very bright future ahead of him. pic.twitter.com/FDaYjdPW6H
— Erin Krakow (@erinkrakow) April 3, 2020
Heartsick to learn of Logan Williams’ death at 16. He was 100% committed to playing young Barry Allen, and we missed him once we moved past that part of the story. Love and compassion to Logan’s family and friends in your grief. pic.twitter.com/lOlUyxJtIC
— John Wesley Shipp (@JohnWesleyShipp) April 3, 2020
Williams said she hopes to “create a legacy out of this tragedy” and “create awareness or help one or five or 100 people to somehow heal and get help.”
“His death is not going to be in vain,” she said. “He’s going to help a lot of people down the road.”
Parents who have lost children to drugs are “in this horrible club. A club you don’t want to be a member of,” Williams added.
She said that in addition to keeping her son’s ashes in an urn in her living room, she has a nightly ritual of remembrance.
“Every night I put a candle by the window. I just want Logan to know that he’s always welcome to come back home,” Williams said. “Sounds so silly, but when he was alive I’d always leave the light on [for] if he’d come home. I leave the light on so he knows I’m here for him.”
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