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Minor league baseball player learned from Facebook that his wife, 14-month-old son, and mother-in-law were killed; his brother-in-law is charged with the murders

admin — Wed, 06 May 2020 07:57:21 +0000

Posted: May 6, 2020 / 02:27 AM CDT
/ Updated: May 6, 2020 / 02:27 AM CDT

Virginia (NBC) (05/06/20)— Minor league baseball player Blake Bivens said he found out through Facebook that his wife, their 14-month-old son, and his mother-in-law had been killed.

Bivens, who pitched last season for the Montgomery, Alabama, Biscuits, a Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, opened up about the deaths in August while speaking with a pastor from The River Church in Danville, Virginia.

Blake Bivens

Matthew Bernard, his brother-in-law, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder. Bernard is accused of killing his mother, Joan Bernard, age 62; his sister Emily Bernard Bivens, age 25; and her child, Cullen Bivens, 14 months.

Bivens said he was with his teammates in Chattanooga, Tennessee, finishing up a series of games when he woke up and checked his phone but didn’t have any messages from his family. He logged on to Facebook and immediately saw a headline about a search for Bernard.

“I knew then there’s something going on so immediately called my parents,” Bivens said during a conversation that aired Sunday on Facebook Live. “They were trying to figure out everything that was going on also. I knew I needed to get my stuff together. I needed to probably get an airplane trip home, not knowing the extent of anything going on.”

The Rays arranged a flight for Bivens to head home to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He said that while he waited at the airport, he checked Facebook again and the first thing that popped up was a headline that said two women and a small child had been killed.

“I immediately knew that was them. I found out my family was gone over a Facebook headline. And I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport,” he said.

Bivens said that during the plane ride home, he would just start shaking, and then he would break down and cry.

The Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home in southern Virginia after a neighbor reported that someone might have been shot. Bernard was arrested while running around naked after an hours-long manhunt.

A competency review and determination hearing is scheduled for next week to determine whether Bernard is able to stand trial, according to ESPN.

Bivens said the hardest moment came when he walked into his son’s room for the first time after his death.

“That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing ever will come close to feeling the way I felt at that moment. But then again, I know I will see him again one day, and it won’t be long,” he said.

Bivens said that his faith has been getting him through the more than eight months since the killings and that he has sought comfort in knowing that they are “in the arms of Jesus and they’re waiting for me to be there with them.”

“It’s been amazing how the Lord has helped and gave us peace through everything,” Bivens said.

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Baseball Player Reveals He Found Out His Family Was Murdered On Facebook

admin — Tue, 05 May 2020 20:16:33 +0000

“I just immediately began to scream in the middle of the airport.”

A minor league pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays’ farm team said he found out his family was murdered via social media.

During a service at The River Church in Danville, Virginia on Sunday, Blake Bivens revealed how he discovered his wife, baby son and mother-in-law were shot to death last August when he checked his Facebook.

“First headline I see is two females and a small child were gone,” Bivens, 24, began in the confessional, which was broadcast over Facebook. “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, their 14-month-old son Cullen, Emily’s mother, Joan Bernard, 64, and a pet dog were found slain in their Keeling, VA home while Bivens was out on a road trip with the Montgomery Biscuits.

His brother-in-law, Matthew Bernard, 19, was arrested and charged with three counts of murder after leading the police on a chase while naked. Police say there may have been “religious motivation” for the shootings, according to a search warrant, per ESPN. A determination hearing is scheduled for next week to see if Bernard is competent enough to stand trial.

Bivens spoke for more than 30 minutes on the broadcast, detailing how he first checked his phone while packing up for a bus ride to a day game, which led him to the awful news.

“There weren’t any messages from Emily or anyone,” he said. “I knew then something was going on and immediately called my parents. They were trying to figure out what was going on also. I knew I needed to get my stuff together. I needed to probably get an airport trip home, not knowing the extent of anything going on.”

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He went on to discuss the heartbreaking trip home.

“The only thing I really remember from the whole plane ride is I just went through periods,” he said. “I just stared at the back of the seat the whole time, trying to get my mind to wrap around what I’m hearing.”

“It’s almost kind of like, ‘This isn’t really happening.’ I was more in a state of shock. I would go through periods of shaking,” he said. “Then I would start to lose it a little bit and break down and cry. It was kind of like a circle. The plane rides just seemed like they took forever.”

Pittsylvania County Police Department / Facebook

Baseball Player’s Family Killed as Naked 19-Year-old Brother-in-Law is Charged With Triple Murder

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Bivens confessed the trip home “could have been a whole lot worse for me” if he hadn’t been joined by three members of his baseball team.

“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,” he revealed. “That was the worst moment in my life. Nothing ever will come to feeling the way I felt at that moment.”

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Days before drug trial, ex-NFL player goes live on Facebook before police search car

admin — Tue, 27 Mar 2018 01:22:16 +0000

Three days before his trial on 2015 drug charges, former NFL running back Dantrell Montganner Savage was arrested Friday by Columbus Police on charges of misdemeanor obstruction and traffic offenses.

Savage went live on Facebook about noon Friday and recorded his arrest by Officer Michael Aguilar, a member of the department’s Special Operations Unit. Savage’s video lasted more than seven minutes before he was taken into custody.

The Facebook live video got more than 150 shares and 8,000 views over the weekend.

Savage, 33, was pulled over while driving his 2010 Acura sedan near the Warm Springs Connector and Manchester Expressway for failure to maintain his lane, according to a police report.

Savage urged those watching the Facebook video to share it.

“You know they f—–g with me again,” he said. “For what particular reason, I don’t know.”

He stayed live as Aguilar went to his patrol car and then returned to Savage’s vehicle. The officer was asking about proof of insurance.

He asked Savage if he had any illegal narcotics or weapons in the vehicle. Savage did not immediately respond. The standoff lasted several minutes as a second police vehicle with a drug dog pulled up, said Savage’s attorney Stacey Jackson. After the second police car arrived, Aguilar told Savage he was going to search the vehicle.

Savage argued with the officer.

“The problem is you’re not listening,” Aguilar told Savage.

Savage again refused to let police search the vehicle. Aguilar then charged Savage with obstruction. Police also cited Savage for failing to maintain his traffic lane and having a cracked windshield.

“I find it ironic that since 2015, he hasn’t had any run-ins with anyone, then the Friday before the trial a Special Operations officer pulls him over and keeps him there long enough for a dog to do an open-air search,” Jackson said. “Even with probable cause, they didn’t find anything.”

Police found nothing illegal when they searched Savage’s vehicle, Jackson said.

Savage was released on bond Friday afternoon.

On October 27, 2015, Savage was charged with possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it and possessing drug-related objects. His trial before Superior Court Judge Ron Mullins is to begin Tuesday. He also faces a third charge of possessing methamphetamine, according to court records.

Attorneys picked a jury Monday.

Savage and codefendant Jessie James Smith Sr., now 53, were arrested in 2015 at a 33rd Street gym named Savage Fitness Evolution, where Savage had two plastic bags containing a total 28 grams of meth, police said. He and Smith also had three digital scales, investigators said.

The arrests stemmed from an undercover drug sting in which the Columbus Police Department Special Operations Unit twice had an informant use marked cash to purchase meth while recording the transaction on surveillance cameras, authorities said.

The informant dealt with Smith, who told police he was a gym employee, investigators said. Savage was nearby during one transaction, and Smith referred to Savage during the second buy, saying he needed to go see “T,” Savage’s nickname, police Cpl. Vincent Dragnett testified during a preliminary hearing in Columbus Recorder’s Court.

The first transaction was Oct. 7, 2015, in the gym’s garage area, and the next was the following Oct. 15, officers said. They served a search warrant at the gym 12 days later.

During the search, police confiscated $44,500 in cash, which Savage said came from a settlement involving an accident, Dragnett testified.

Smith pleaded guilty Sept. 26, 2016 to possessing meth with the intent to distribute it, and possessing drug-related objects. Prosecutors dropped two counts of selling meth, and Mullins sentenced Smith to five years in prison with 36 months to serve and the rest on probation.

A graduate of Columbus’ Jordan High School, Savage was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Oklahoma State. He played with the Chiefs for two seasons, mostly serving on special teams before getting cut in March 2010.

He was signed to the Carolina Panthers in August 2010, but was released before the 2010-11 season started.

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