Logan Williams

Logan Kari Williams was born on 9 April 2003 in Vancouver, and raised in Coquitlam.^[1][2] He attended Hope Lutheran School and Terry Fox Secondary School in Port Coquitlam.^[1]

He made his acting debut in 2014, appearing in television film The Color of Rain directed by Anne Wheeler on Hallmark Channel.^[2] In the same year, he was cast in his best known role as young Barry Allen on The CW series The Flash.^[3] He made 8 appearances totally through season 1 to the premiere of season 2.^[4] For his performance, he was nominated as Best Emerging Performer in the 2015 UBCP/ACTRA Awards.^[5] He acted in Hallmark series When Calls the Heart and made appearances in The Whispers and Supernatural.^[6]

Williams had been discovered using marijuana by his mother Marlyse when he was 13 and, according to her, his drug addiction progressed since.^[7] He was sent to a treatment facility in the US,^[7] and in 2019, came under care of the Ministry of Children and Family Development of British Columbia.^[8][9][10] The coroner's report later revealed that, in February 2020 during custody, he was resuscitated after an overdose and subsequently diagnosed with a "significant brain injury that affected his memory and functioning."^[8][10] Requesting treatment, he was then discharged from the hospital to a specialised facility with recommendations for supervision while he was documented by medical professionals to be "at high risk for serious injury or death."^[8][9] Marlyse met her son for the last time on 30 March.^[7]

Williams died on 2 April 2020, one week shy of his 17th birthday,^[1][6][11] in a residential care group home in Burnaby.^[12] Previous evening, he was reported missing from the residence; when he returned at 11 p.m. he "appeared agitated and under the influence of a substance."^[9] He reportedly last spoke to the staff around 4 a.m. and appeared to be asleep during hourly checks but was found unresponsive and not breathing when the staff attempted to wake him at about 9:30 a.m.^[10] The paramedics did not attempt resuscitation after they arrived as he was apparently deceased.^[12] Drug paraphernalia was located near his body.^[10] At the time of his death, according to Marylse, he was on a waiting list for treatment bed.^[13] His cause of death was later determined as accidental fentanyl overdose.^[7][14]

He was survived by his mother, father Clive, and grandparents.^[1] Grieving plans were initially postponed because of social distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[1][15] Following the news of his death, several of his former co-stars have shared their condolences, such as Grant Gustin, John Wesley Shipp, and Erin Krakow.^[6]

Marylse Williams has since been an advocate of opioid epidemic awareness.^{[16][17][18][19]} She has criticised the Ministry for their handling of her son's case,^[20][21] and in 2022, filed lawsuit against the Ministry and the Burnaby care facility, accusing them of negligence.^[22][23]