Jake Reiner breaks silence on parents Rob and Michele’s killings, calls it a ‘living nightmare’
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Eight months after his parents, legendary film director Rob Reiner and photographer Michele Reiner, were killed, Jake Reiner has described the aftermath as a “living nightmare” that he is still struggling to process.
In his first sit-down interview with ABC News, the 34-year-old spoke about losing his parents and navigating life after his younger brother, Nick Reiner, was charged with their murders.
Jake Reiner recalls the night his parents were killed
Rob and Michele Reiner were found stabbed to death at their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home on December 14, 2025. Nick, Jake’s 32-year-old younger brother, is charged with two counts of murder.
On the day of the killings, Jake was at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles attending a celebration of life for a high school friend when his younger sister, Romy Reiner, tried calling him. He screened the first call but knew something was wrong when she immediately called again.
Romy told him their father was dead and that she could not find their mother. “I immediately went into shock,” he recalled.
Jake, who spent 10 years working as a local news reporter and covered crime scenes throughout California before reporting in Los Angeles, said arriving at his childhood home that night was surreal. “As a reporter, I did it for 10 years; I came up on crime scenes all the time,” he said, adding, “But when it's your crime scene, a crime scene at your childhood home, it’s like the most surreal thing I've ever seen.”
That night, he also learned that police were considering Nick a prime suspect. Jake declined to say whether he was surprised. He said that after losing his parents and seeing Nick arrested, it was now “just me and Romy” navigating the situation.
Jake said his grief has manifested as anger and rage over the unfairness of what happened and the fact that he had no choice in preventing it.
Jake Reiner works to preserve his parents’ legacy
Jake and Romy stayed away from the media following their parents’ deaths until making their first public appearance on August 2 at Dodger Stadium, where they participated in the ceremonial first pitch. The stadium held special meaning for Rob, who had season tickets and attended three or four games a week with Jake.
“It was an emotional thing that we did,” Jake said, adding, “I was really happy that we got to do that.” As Nick’s case moves through the court system, Jake is focused on preserving his parents’ legacy through his work with the Children’s Institute, which serves about 30,000 children and families annually.
His aunt, Martine Singer, is its president and CEO, while the deceased couple were major supporters. Rob had also served as emcee of its annual Cape & Gown Gala.
Jake said his mother was the driving force behind his father’s advocacy, while his father cared deeply about the causes. He acknowledged that attending the gala without them will be “hard” and “weird.”
He said, “I do feel responsible for making sure people know them, and they remember them." He added that he knows his parents loved him and were proud of him, but said he will never understand why it happened, even as December 14 marks one year since their deaths.
Jake has not spoken with Nick, has not attended his court hearings and has declined to discuss his brother’s attempts to access money from the family trust for his defense. He has, however, testified before the grand jury that indicted Nick.
