Minor league baseball pitcher Blake Bivens wrote a gut-wrenching Instagram post cherishing his wife, son and mother-in-law, who were all found dead in a Virginia home earlier this week.
“Two days ago my heart was turned to ash. My life as I knew it is destroyed,” Bivens wrote last Thursday.
Bivens’ wife, 25-year-old Emily Bernard Bivens, his 14-month-old son Cullen Micah Bivens, and his mother-in-law Joan Denise Jefferson Bernard, 62, were found murdered by police Tuesday morning.
Matthew Thomas Bernard, Emily’s brother, was arrested by authorities and charged with three counts of first-degree murder.
“The pain my family and I feel is unbearable and cannot be put into words,” Bivens’ post continued. “I shake and tremble at the thought of our future without them.”
Bivens also wrote individual messages to each of his slain family members in the post.
“Emily, my sweetheart, you are the best wife and mother this world has ever seen,” he said. “Your love and kindness changed countless lives, including mine.”
Bivens also said his life was changed forever because of his son.
“I can’t breathe without you here,” Bivens said of Cullen. “I finally understood what love was when you were born and I would have done anything for you.”
To his mother-in-law, Bivens wrote that she was “the best Nana this world has ever seen” and that he would never forget her.
“You loved your family more than anyone I’ve ever seen,” he said. “You raised the most wonderful girl in the world. I’m so glad y’all are still together.”
The 24-year-old pitcher plays for the Montgomery Biscuits, a Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft.
“Our hearts are broken for Blake,” the Rays said in a statement.
Bernard was captured Tuesday afternoon by authorities after running naked through Chatham, Virginia. Police doused the 18-year-old with pepper spray and subdued him in a chase involving nearly 100 officers, according to authorities.
He was moved to jail on Wednesday and placed on suicide watch after banging his head against the cage of the police car he was riding in, Pittsylvania County Sheriff Michael Taylor said.
Bernard’s first court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
