MLB hopeful Blake Bivens found out wife, 14-month-old son, and mom-in-law had been murdered on Facebook
MLB hopeful Blake Bivens discovered his wife, infant son and mother-in-law had been murdered by a crazed, naked suspect on Facebook.
The Tampa Bay Rays minor league player described the harrowing moment in August last year, when he learned of the killings while waiting to board a flight home to Virginia.
“First headline I see is two females and a small child were gone,” Bivens told a church congregation in Danville, VA on Sunday.
“I immediately knew that was them. I found out my family was gone over a Facebook headline. I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport.”
Bivens’ wife Emily, 25, son, Cullen, 14 months and mother-in-law, Joan Bernard, 62, were allegedly murdered by Emily’s brother, Matthew Thomas Bernard.
After allegedly killing them at the family home, Bernard, 18, ran naked through the town before he was captured by police.
“I think the hardest moment for me was when I got home and I walked in my son’s bedroom for the first time and realized I was never going to see him on this Earth again,” Bivens said.
“That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing ever will come to being, to feeling the way I felt at that moment. Then again, I know I will see him again one day, and it won’t be long.”
Bernard is in custody awaiting a mental health assessment to determine if he is fit to stand trial.
Bivens, 24, recently played baseball in Australia and is attached to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Following the senseless murder, the Double-A Pitcher paid tribute to his family, saying his “heart was turned to ash.”
“The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words,” he wrote on Instagram. “I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them.
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“Emily, my sweetheart, you are the best wife and mother this world has ever seen. You made me into the man I am today and you loved me with all of my flaws.
“My sweet little boy, dada loves you so much! I can’t breathe without you here.”