19-year-old who murdered family of Tampa Bay Rays prospect Blake Bivens was 'suffering from mental illness,' family says
PITTSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA: Family of the 19-year-old man accused of murdering the family of Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Blake Bivens have said that he was an "all-round perfect kid" who was suffering from various mental health problems.
We previously reported how Matthew Bernard, Bivens' brother-in-law, was arrested in connection to the murders of his elder sister, Emily, his 62-year-old mother Joan, and his one-year-old nephew Cullen after leading police on a three-hour manhunt.
The tragic case unfolded on Tuesday, August 27, at around 8 am, when a neighbor saw a body in the driveway of Bivens' home on Keeling Drive, Pittsylvania, Virginia, according to the Daily Mail.
When police arrived at the scene, they uncovered two more bodies. Bernard was named as a prime suspect, with an alert issued warning residents that he was "armed with a rifle and considered very dangerous."
Authorities soon located the 19-year-old running in a neighborhood in the area, fully nude. He went on to attack a Keeling Baptist Church groundskeeper and tried to strangle him, with tasers and mace proving ineffective.
He was restrained as he tried to make a run towards the nearby murder scene, with cameras capturing the moment several police cars and officers intercepted him.
After his arrest, the teen's uncle had told WSLS about how was finding it hard to believe that the 19-year-old had been responsible for such a gruesome crime.
"In my wildest dreams, I never could have imagined it," he said. "Not him. Of all the people in this world. I never could have imagined it."
"This boy’s a Christian," he continued. "Went to church every Sunday, every Wednesday, every Sunday night. Taught youth groups. Just an all-around perfect kid, in my opinion."
Now, Jenn Stallard, one of his cousins, has come out to state that Bernard's seemingly inexplicable actions stemmed from mental health problems.
"Matthew was an amazing soul and person," she wrote in a statement to the Daily Mail. "Always smiled and loved his family to the fullest. Matthew was a very active member in our church along with his family and thoroughly involved in the youth. As all of this is still unfolding and a lot of things are playing out it is being portrayed very wrong."
"Unfortunately, he was suffering from mental illness and came to a breaking point. Matthew is my cousin and I will love him and be there for him if I am ever able to because what the public has seen was not him at all and as a family, we would never imagine this could have happened."
Police have not yet revealed how the gruesome murders were carried out, with the Medical Examiner's Office in Roanoke set to officially determine the cause and manner of death.
Bernard has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is being held without bail.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise donations for Bivens has so far raised more than $15,000.