Flowers, painted rocks stolen from memorial bench for B.C. teen actor who died 2 years ago

Each week, Marlyse Williams cleans and looks after a bench in Port Coquitlam, B.C., that honours her late son, actor Logan Williams, who died two years ago of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 16.

The Pitt River Trail bench was adorned with photos of Logan, flowers, succulents and hand-painted rocks.

“The bench just provided a lot of healing and peace for me, my family and my friends,” said Marlyse. 

But while she was away last week in Florida at a fentanyl awareness speaking event, Marlyse received a text from a friend who told her the memorial items were missing from the bench.

“I was very discouraged that this would happen,” she said. “Who goes to a dead kid’s bench and steals these items? Who does that?”

Williams then called the City of Port Coquitlam, who said staff did not remove the items. 

Mitchell Guest, section manager of parks for the City of Port Coquitlam, says staff patrol the trails twice a week for garbage and litter, but they generally leave memorials untouched.

“We do not touch anything memorial that’s on a bench,” Guest said. “If it is getting carried away, we’ll call the family and ask them if they can remove it, but we would never remove it ourselves.”

Guest said staff are on the lookout for vandals during their patrols, as the city is seeing a spike in graffiti complaints. 

“We have seen a spike in people vandalizing and graffiti throughout the city,” said Guest. “[The bench] was probably vandalized as [the vandals] left partial pieces of it there.”

Marlyse said city staff have been willing to look through surveillance footage and go through garbage cans. 

Guest said the city has not had any luck locating the missing items. 

The bench ‘starts a conversation’ of fentanyl awareness

Marlyse said she regularly receives messages curious passersby who come across the memorial bench.

“They didn’t know Logan, but they looked up his name and it really got them thinking because they have teenagers themselves,” she said.

Logan Williams, who starred in The Flash, died in April 2020 after he ingested fentanyl at a Burnaby group home. The toxicology report revealed Williams died of “acute toxicity.”

Marlyse says the bench has initiated discourse and reflection about the opioid crisis.

“It was a beautiful little item to remember Logan, but also one of the reasons why I love placing little things is because it starts a conversation and it actually brings awareness,” she said. 

Since her son’s death, Marlyse has become an advocate with the Fentanyl Awareness Coalition. She has pushed for an independent inquiry into what led to her son’s overdose.

Since the items at the bench went missing, Marlyse says she has received hundreds of messages on Facebook offering support and new items for the bench. 

“It takes one bad apple to put a sour taste in our mouth, but there’s a lot more good than bad in people because of the wonderful, supportive messages that I’ve received,” she said.