MLB pitching prospect Blake Bivens is dealing with an unimaginable tragedy right now, after his wife, his one-year-old son, and his wife’s mother were all found dead at a rural Virginia home on Tuesday morning.
Emily Bivens (pictured above, with Blake), the couple’s one-year-old son Cullen, Emily’s mother, and the family dog were all found dead by a neighbor just after 8:00 a.m. Tuesday in the small southern Virginia town of Keeling, according to local news affiliate WSET.
The neighbor also apparently witnessed Emily’s younger brother, Matthew Bernard, running into the woods and away from the crime scene.
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Almost immediately, Pittsylvania County Public Safety officials issued a warning to residents in the area, urging them to be on the lookout for Bernard. The 18-year-old was officially named a suspect in the triple homicide at that point, and police described him as “very dangerous,” and said to be armed with a rifle.
Hours later, deputies tracked down and found Bernard not far from the home where the murders allegedly took place. The suspect was completely naked and in a frenzy upon making contact with deputies, and he led them on a foot pursuit for some distance before he was finally apprehended.
In a bizarre twist in the case, Bernard’s naked foot pursuit was caught on camera by the same local news outlet, with the video going viral on Tuesday night. It’s graphic (though pixelated) and contains images of violence — at one point, Bernard attacks and chokes an innocent bystander before cops can get him away from the victim — but you can watch the full, strange chase leading up to Bernard’s eventual arrest (below):
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The suspect in a triple homicide in Pittsylvania County, 19-year-old Matthew Bernard, ran toward @KyleMWilcoxTV & @humphreyWSET while they were at a staging area — he also strangled the church's caretaker.https://t.co/4OVjvg9kkQ pic.twitter.com/cg23z2KIEX
— ABC 13 News – WSET (@ABC13News) August 27, 2019
Wow…
Once apprehended, as you could see at the end of that clip, Bernard was taken to a local medical facility for treatment. He has since been booked in jail, and officially charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The older man he strangled in that clip is apparently doing well and recovering from his bizarre encounter with the suspect.
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News of the tragedy quickly swept across the baseball world; Bivens was not in Virginia at the time of the incident, and had been pitching with the Montgomery Biscuits of the Double-A Southern League. His parent club, Major League Baseball‘s Tampa Bay Rays, released a statement in support of the grieving pitcher last night (below):
We're with you, Blake. pic.twitter.com/gJqdUCIf7p
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) August 28, 2019
And Bivens’ current team, the Biscuits, did so as well (below):
A statement from CEO & Managing Owner, Lou DiBella. pic.twitter.com/Uocm0juKb7
— Montgomery Biscuits (@BiscuitBaseball) August 28, 2019
The Biscuits’ Tuesday night doubleheader was also canceled out of respect for Bivens and the tragedy.
Blake and Emily were married back in January 2016, according to their social media pages. They welcomed Cullen, their only child, just over a year ago, in June 2018.
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One of Bivens’ most recent Instagram posts (below) from just 11 weeks ago contains an adorable video celebrating the young boy’s first birthday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Byii_qOAehm/
Ugh.
So, so sad.
The 24-year-old pitcher and native of Danville, Virginia was originally selected by the Rays in the fourth round of the 2014 MLB Draft. He was having strong year for the Biscuits, going 4-0 with a save and a 3.95 ERA across 57 innings pitched leading up to the events this week. The team qualified for the playoffs, and is set to finish their season at some point in early September, though it’s obviously likely Bivens will be granted leave to deal with this unfathomable situation.
We can’t even imagine what it must be like to have to deal with something like this. Our hearts go out to Bivens’ family, friends, teammates, loved ones, and everybody else touched by this truly gut-wrenching tragedy.
R.I.P…
