Mother of The Flash star Logan Williams, 16, says he died after opioid overdose following three year addiction battle
LOGAN Williams' grieving mother has revealed that her 16-year-old son died of an opioid overdose after a three-year addiction battle.
The young actor, who played a young Barry Allen on CW's , passed away suddenly on April 2 and at the time a cause of death was not initially reported.
Now Marlyse Williams told the that toxicology reports confirmed her son died of a opioid overdose.
The grieving mother became aware of her late son's drug use in 2017 after the auditioning process became "way too stressful" for him.
She explained that she discovered he using marijuana first, but it soon quickly escalated to other drugs and said Logan "was in complete denial [about his addiction] because he was so ashamed."
Marlyse said the next three years were difficult as she tried to help her son get clean and even remortgaged her home to send him to a treatment center in the United States.
She also sent him to a facility in British Columbia, Canada for a month last summer and he had been living in a group home since then.
Marlyse told the publication: "I did everything humanly possible — everything a mother could do, I did everything but handcuff him to me to try to keep him safe."
Marlyse explained that she kept her son's addiction "under wraps" from people in the entertainment business as he hoped to return to the industry and "didn’t want people to know because of the judgement".
The last time she saw Logan, Marlyse said they enjoyed an "amazing" family dinner and the teen insisted that he was going to "get clean" to start a new chapter of his life.
"He said to me, 'Mom, I’m gonna get clean. I’m going to get better. And I want my new life to start,'" she said. "I just know the last thing we said to each other was, 'I love you'".
Sadly, four days later she was forced to identify his body at a funeral home and said seeing him was "gut-wrenching".
Marlyse said she hopes her son's death will bring awareness to opioid addiction and wants to "create a legacy out of this tragedy" of his passing.
She said of her Logan, who would have turned 17 on April 9: "His death is not going to be in vain. He’s going to help a lot of people down the road."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 67,00 people died of an opioid overdose in 2018.
Logan's mother previously revealed she had been because of the lockdown.
Marlyse had spoken of her devastation at being unable to hold friends or family close and told local newspaper : "I am not able to hug my parents who lost their only grandchild.
"It's hard. With his talent and gorgeous looks, Logan had the potential to be a huge star."
He played a young version of Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen in seasons 1 and 2 of The CW’s The Flash, as well as Miles Montgomery on Hallmark Channel’s period drama When Calls the Heart.
Grant mourned the loss of the teen actor with a photo of the two of them, along with fellow Flash costar Jesse L. Martin (Joe West).
He captioned the sweet picture: "Just hearing the devastating news that Logan Williams has passed away suddenly.
"This picture was early in the filming of The Flash pilot episode back in 2014. I was so impressed by not only Logan’s talent but his professionalism on set."
He continued: "My thoughts and prayers will be with him and his family during what is I’m sure an unimaginably difficult time for them.
"Please keep Logan and his family in your thoughts and prayers during what has been a strange and trying time for us all. Sending love to everyone."
MOST READ IN ENTERTAINMENT
John Wesley Shipp, who played Barry Allen's father in The Flash, paid tribute to the teen.
He wrote: "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."