Mom of The Flash Actor: This Is How He Died

Logan Williams' death remains tragic, but at least the cause is known—and might help others avoid the same fate. His grieving mother, Marlyse, has stepped into the media spotlight to explain how The Flash star died suddenly on April 2 at age 16. "His death is not going to be in vain," she tells the New York Post. "He's going to help a lot of people down the road." She says her son died of a fentanyl overdose after his career became too stressful and he turned to drugs for relief. Logan "was in complete denial because he was so ashamed," she says. But he was also successful, landing roles in series like When Calls the Heart, The Whispers, and Supernatural as he managed to stay afloat in school.

His biggest stress was auditioning, she says, so he took time off—then turned to marijuana by age 13 and later to other, harder drugs. Logan "was in complete denial because he was so ashamed," she says. So she mortgaged her home to put him through treatment, including a pricey American center last summer and one in Canada for a month: "I did everything but handcuff him to me to try to keep him safe," she says. But four days after an "amazing" meal together on March 30, she was identifying his body in a funeral home. "Seeing him like that was as gut-wrenching as hearing that he died. It was horrific. Horrific. He was cold." Marlyse says she's speaking out in the hope others can avoid the same experience, People reports. (More celebrity death stories.)