The social media age has put us in a predicament when it comes to the spread of news. When people learn of an incident, for better or worse they take to their social media accounts. It's important to really think about what our words can mean to other people before we do such things. For one minor league baseball player, he had the misfortune of learning from a Facebook post that close members of his family had been murdered.
Blake Bivens was on the road with the Montgomery Biscuits, a Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate, last summer when the incident occurred. He began traveling home after learning on Facebook that people were looking for his brother-in-law.
The worrisome family situation turned even more gut-wrenching when he learned that three people had been killed. Upon learning it was two adult women and a baby boy, Blake broke down. It was his family.
Blake shared the story in detail during a service at The River Church in Danville, Virginia, on Sunday.
Minor league baseball player Blake Bivens bravely opened up about the greatest tragedy he's ever endured. During a service at The River Church in Danville, Virginia, on Sunday, Blake opened up about finding out about the deaths of his wife, mother-in-law, and son last August. Blake revealed he learned of the situation as it was unfolding from Facebook posts.
Blake explains that he was on the road with Tampa Bay Rays Double-A affiliate the Montgomery Biscuits when he woke up that morning. He had no missed calls or messages from his wife, 25-year-old Emily, so he decided to check Facebook.
"As soon as I clicked on Facebook, I just saw a headline, and the headline was just (that) they were looking for my brother-in-law," Blake recalls. "And so I knew then there's something going on, so I immediately called my parents."
"They were trying to figure out everything that was going on also," he continued.
"So at that point, 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."
Half an hour later, Blake was at the airport. He continued to call Emily but hadn't gotten any answer. He checked Facebook when he was alone in the airport and made a horrific discovery.
"The first headline I see is two females and a small child were gone," Blake said. "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."
Emily, their 14-month-old son Cullen, and Emily's 62-year-old mother, Joan Denise Jefferson Bernard, were found dead in their Virginia home, along with a pet dog. Matthew Bernard, Emily's brother, was being sought by police in connection with their deaths. Matthew led police on a chase until he was captured in a surrounding wooded area.
The 19-year-old was charged with three counts of first-degree homicide. A search warrant obtained as part of the investigation revealed possible religious motivations, according to ESPN. Several sources close to the family indicated that Matthew heard voices and dreamed of demons.
Moments after seeing the news, Blake received a call from Montgomery Biscuits manager Morgan Ensberg, who accompanied him 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."
When asked about the hardest moment for him, Blake's response was heartbreaking. "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 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.''
In his struggle to cope with the overwhelming tragedy, Blake's faith provided him comfort. "And when I read, 'Take heart, for I have overcome the world,' it changed, it completely flipped a switch in my heart," he said.
"And from that moment on I knew that this was not going to beat me, this was not going to beat family. I was going to live in victory the rest of my life, and I was going to use this as a testimony to show what he has done for me he can also do for others."
"That moment for me was one of the biggest moments where I just knew God was with me," he continued. "The only thing I knew to do was just laugh in the enemy's face because he thought he had won. But all he's done is awoken a sleeping giant and as long as I'm here on this earth, every day I wake up my goal is to pile-drive him right in the face every morning when I get up."
In November, a court found Matthew incompetent to stand trial. Further information in court documents indicated that he could be treated to restore his competency. A judge approved an order for a competency and sanity evaluation conducted on an inpatient basis by qualified staff at a hospital designated by the Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, according to ABC 13.
A competency review and determination hearing for Matthew is scheduled for May 13. The court will determine whether or not he can now go to trial for the murders.
If he is deemed incompetent, the director must indicate whether Matthew should be released into state custody, committed, or certified, if it is determined that his competency cannot be restored.
Blake continues to heal. He posted a beautiful tribute to Emily on what would have been their fourth wedding anniversary earlier this year. "As I was looking through our wedding pictures it’s hard not to reminisce on our short time together," he captioned an Instagram photo from their wedding.
"What really stands out to me is how much of a better person I have become because of you. Very few people have lived a life full of so much love and compassion for other people. You would have given everything we had away if it meant changing someone else’s life. And in a way you have; so many people have felt Christ’s love through your life."
"Though [you're] not physically here God’s purpose for your life shines bright and clear. I love you so much! Give our little Angel a kiss for me and tell him how much his daddy loves him. Can’t wait to see y’all again!"
