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RYAN Grantham, ‘Riverdale’ and ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ star, has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting his mother in 2020.
According to the CBC, a life sentence was given to the 24-year-old Canadian actor in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday. He will only be eligible for parole after serving 14 years.
As Grantham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, it carries an automatic life sentence in Canada. While this sentence was expected, the duration of which he had to wait before applying for parole was not.
On March 31, 2020, Grantham shot his 64-year-old mother, Barbara White, as said by prosecutors in a June hearing. She was shot in the back of the head as she was playing piano.
The court discovered that Grantham rehearsed the murder. He even took videos throughout the proceedings, including one where he confessed and showed his deceased mother’s body.
Grantham allegedly had the intention of murdering Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the next day. He had loaded his car with guns, ammunition, Molotov cocktails, camping supplies, and directions to the prime minister’s home. Instead, he turned himself in to Vancouver police.
Justice Kathleen Ker considered it a saving grace that he did not go through with his killing spree at the sentencing this week, as reported by CBC. She also noted that his crimes have “life-shattering” impacts, as evident in victim impact statements made by Grantham’s sister.
Psychiatric reports depict that Grantham was suffering from an intense period of clinical depression before the murder, with “urges to commit violence and suicide”, according to a CBC report in June. He allegedly decided to kill his cancer-battling mother “to spare her from seeing the violence he intended to commit”.
The actor’s mental health problems were considered to be a mitigating circumstance in the murder, said Ker on Tuesday. She also stated that Grantham is receiving psychiatric help in prison. – The Vibes, September 23, 2022