'Riverdale' Actor Ryan Grantham Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murdering His Mother

Actor Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life in prison for shooting his own mother to death.

Grantham, who is best known for his role in the Netflix series "Riverdale," surrendered to authorities after killing his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Waite, inside her home in the Canadian province of British Columbia on March 31, 2020, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The actor, now 24, was awarded a life sentence in the British Columbia Supreme Court Tuesday. He stands ineligible for parole for the next 14 years, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.

Grantham previously pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his mother, whom he shot in the back as she was playing the piano.

Justice Kathleen Ker referred to a victim impact statement from Grantham's sister, in which she said the incident left "life-shattering" impacts on the victim's family. Ker noted that Grantham was having mental health issues and was falling increasingly addicted to cannabis and watching violent videos on the dark web, according to the outlet.

Shedding some more light on Grantham's mental health issues, Ker said he was having a downward spiral in the months leading up to the matricide and was overcome by suicidal and homicidal thoughts.

Ker gave an account of the trail of events that occurred after the shooting, stating that Grantham loaded his car with three guns, ammunition, a dozen Molotov cocktails and camping supplies in an attempt to carry out a mass shooting. She said the actor even drove to Ottawa with the intention of killing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau but instead traveled to the Vancouver Police Department building and turned himself in.

As per an earlier CBC report in June, the killing wasn't impulsive as videos shown in the court proved he planned it out for months. The report also revealed that Grantham took videos of his mother's dead body after fatally shooting her.

Prosecutor Michaela Donnelly said at the time that Grantham was going through an "intense period of clinical depression" despite putting up a normal exterior. The report said Grantham killed his mother, who was battling cancer at that time, "to spare her from seeing the violence he intended to commit."

During Tuesday's sentencing, Ker said she considered Grantham's mental health problems to be a mitigating circumstance in the murder, which means the reason falls short of justifying the crime or influencing the reduction of penalty upon conviction.

Ker, however, didn't fail to note that Grantham was realistic enough not to go on a shooting rampage and handed himself over to the cops.

Ker said the young actor is currently receiving psychiatric help in prison.

Grantham started his acting career when he was just 9 years old.