'Riverdale' Actor Ryan Grantham Gets Life Sentence After Pleading Guilty to Murdering His Mother

Former child actor Ryan Grantham was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting his mother in 2020. Grantham appeared in a Vancouver court on Wednesday.

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Actor Ryan Grantham has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his mother in 2020.

CBC reports Grantham, known for his role in the 2011 film Diary of a Wimpy Kid, as well as an appearance in the hit TV series Riverdale, learned his fate in the British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday. The 24-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March.

Grantham’s attorney Chris Johnson spoke with E! News following the actor’s sentencing.

“He’s received a lot of psychological assistance and he has struggled with what he’s done and facing that,” Johnson said. “But he hopes to be able to dedicate the rest of his life to making amends.”

On March 31, 2020, Grantham fatally shot his 64-year-old mother, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head while she was playing piano. Shortly after the killing, Grantham filmed a video in which he confessed to the killing.

The following day, Grantham loaded his car with three guns, ammunition, 12 Molotov cocktails, camping supplies, and a printed Google map with directions to Rideau Cottage in Ottawa. In both a statement to police and excerpts read out in court from his private journal, Grantham mentioned his plan to kill Prime Minister Trudeau. 

In addition, Grantham also planned on committing an act of mass violence at Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge or at Simon Fraser University. However, he ultimately decided to turn himself in, driving to a Vancouver police station where he told an officer, “I killed my mother.”

Grantham will not be eligible for parole for 14 years. 

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