Son Kills Parents With Bayonet, Dies From Stab Wounds After Brawling With Father

Woodbridge, VA – A Virginia man who fatally stabbed his parents with a bayonet at their Northern Virginia home was also mortally wounded when his father tried to stop him.

Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) officers responded to the 5100-block of Cannon Bluff Drive at about 7:15 a.m. on May 16 for a report of a stabbing, WRIC reported.

Investigators said the mayhem erupted when 38-year-old Nicholas Reams fatally stabbed his 71-year-old mother, Sandra Reams.

Nicholas Reams’ father, 67-year-old Rodney Reams, intervened at some point during the attack, and the father and son wound up fighting one another with a bayonet, according to police.

Both men suffered severe injuries during the violent brawl, WRIC reported.

Despite his wounds, Rodney Reams was able to place a call to police for help.

He told the dispatcher that his son had “killed his wife and stabbed him,” according to the Prince William Times.

Rodney Reams was subsequently rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, WRIC reported.

Police said Nicholas Reams was the primary aggressor and that he died at the hospital due to injuries caused by his father during the fight.

Sandra Reams, a retired schoolteacher, was pronounced dead at the scene, the Prince William Times reported.

Neighbors said the family had lived at the home since the mid-1980s.

Rodney Reams was a semi-retired real estate agent.

His son, who still lived at home, had studied engineering at George Mason University, but wasn’t working anywhere at the time of the murders, the Prince William Times reported.

A neighbor who wanted to remain anonymous told the paper Sandra Reams called her house the day before she was killed and told her that her son had made a disturbing comment, according to the paper.

The neighbor said Sandra Reams told her that her son warned her, “They’re coming in the morning to stab us all,” the Prince William Times reported.

The neighbor said her mother offered to go over to the Reams’ home to sit with Sandra Reams to make sure everything was fine, but that Sandra declined.

She did agree to keep her phone near her in case she needed help, the neighbor said.

The neighbors said they were stunned when they awoke the next morning, the Prince William Times reported.

“When we got up, my mom said, ‘Something happened across the street,’” the neighbor recounted. “I came out, and there were cop cars everywhere.”

A motive for the attack has not been released.