Williams, who played a young Barry Allen on the CW's 'The Flash,' died of a fentanyl overdose, his mother shared, revealing that the young actor endured a three-year battle with addiction.
After The Flash actor Logan Williams died unexpectedly in April at the age of 16, Williams' mom Marlyse Williams revealed the cause of her son's death in an interview with the New York Post.
Williams, who played a young Barry Allen on the CW's The Flash, died of a fentanyl overdose, his mother shared, revealing that the young actor endured a three-year battle with addiction.
"His death is not going to be in vain," she said of her son, who would have turned 17 just days after his passing. "He’s going to help a lot of people down the road."
Marlyse recalled discovering Williams using marijuana when he was 13, the same time the actor was juggling school and acting in the Hallmark series When Calls the Heart, the ABC sci-fi series The Whispers and the longtime CW series Supernatural. She then revealed that Williams' drug use escalated to other drugs, which led her to seek help.
She shared that to help her son as he battled his addiction, she remortgaged their home to send him to an expensive treatment center in the US and, just last summer, sent him to a British Columbia facility where he stayed for a month. He later lived in a group home.
“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.”
She added that they kept his addition struggles a secret as a means of preventing any "judgement" from the public. "Logan was always hoping to get back into acting, music or whatever future he wanted. 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."
Marlyse said the last time she saw her son was on March 30, where they ate dinner together. "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.
Four days later, she said, she had to identify his body. “Seeing him like that was as gut-wrenching as hearing that he died. It was horrific," she said. "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."
Though the cause of her son's death was never revealed until now, Marlyse said her heart broke after hearing singer Melissa Etheridge announce the death of her 21-year-old son, Beckett, who died from an opioid overdose. "My heart breaks for her because I know the initial devastation of knowing your beautiful boy is gone. Unfortunately, I can relate. We are in this horrible club. A club you don’t want to be a member of."
She went on to say that she hopes by speaking out about her son's battle, it can help in creating "a legacy out of this tragedy" and “create awareness or help one or five or 100 people to somehow heal and get help."
To help keep his spirit alive, Marlyse said she keeps her son's ashes in a stone urn.
"Every night I put a candle by the window. I just want Logan to know that he’s always welcome to come back home,” she said. “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."
Following Williams death, the young actor was remembered by his costars including The Flash star Grant Gustin, who said he was "so impressed by not only Logan’s talent, but his professionalism on set." The SAG-AFTRA Foundation also paid tribute to Williams, writing on Twitter, "We are heartbroken at the loss of young @sagaftra member & @TheCW #TheFlash actor Logan Williams. We send our love and condolences to his friends and family."
Willams played a youthful Allen for eight episodes of the CW series. He last appeared in the second season's episode "The Man Who Saved Central City."
