Riverdale actor sentenced to prison for killing his mum is seeking psychiatric help behind bars
Topics: Film and TV, Canada, Crime, World News
Daisy Phillipson
Featured Image Credit: The CW/Warner
Topics: Film and TV, Canada, Crime, World News
The Riverdale actor who was sentenced this week for the murder of his mum is seeking psychiatric help behind bars.
Ryan Grantham pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his mother in the head at their home in Canada, and during a hearing this week he was sentenced to life in prison for the crime without the possibility of parole for the first 14 years.
Disturbing details about the case were uncovered during the trial, including the fact that Grantham had plotted to kill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before changing his mind and planning to commit a mass shooting either at the Lions Gate Bridge or Simon Fraser University where he was enrolled.
But Grantham had a change of heart and, later that night, he handed himself into the police. He later pleaded guilty to killing his mum Barbara Waite in March 2020.
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The news shocked the world, with many focusing on his previous successful career as a child actor.
As well as landing a role in the popular teen series based on the Archie Comics, the now 24-year-old also starred in Diary Of A Wimpy Kid, Supernatural and iZombie.
During his sentencing at the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, Justice Kathleen Ker considered Grantham's mental state at the time of the shooting, as the court heard how he had spiralled in the preceding months.
Ker acknowledged accounts that the actor had spent an increasing amount of time smoking weed and watching violent footage on the dark web while feeling overwhelmed with suicidal urges and desires to hurt others.
Though he was fit to stand trial, psychiatric reports suggested he was suffering from clinical depression at the time of the attack.
According to the CBC, the judge considered his mental state as a mitigating circumstance, while also noting that Grantham was seeking psychiatric help in prison, for which he's reportedly received positive feedback on his progress so far.
Ker also described the fact that he had enough comprehension to not go on a killing spree and instead turn himself in as a 'saving grace'.
That being said, the judge still acknowledged the 'life-shattering' impact of his crime, including on Grantham's sister Lisa, who found the body of their mum in their home.
Speaking in the trial, she said: "How can I trust anybody when my only sibling chose to execute my mom when her back was turned?"
Earlier on in the court case, grisly details of the murder revealed that Grantham had appeared to rehearse the killing in the days leading up to it.
On the day, he is said to have loaded and unloaded the gun numerous times before approaching the unsuspecting 64-year-old with the weapon at their Squamish home in March 2020.
Crown prosecutor Michaela Donnelly said: "He put the crosshairs on the back of her head, closed his eyes and pulled the trigger."
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677