Actor-director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, had been longtime opponents of the death penalty prior to their slayings late last year. Prosecutors have announced that they will not pursue the death penalty in the case against Nick Reiner, the couple's 33-year-old son who has been charged with first-degree murder in their deaths. "This decision reflects our careful judgment about the most appropriate path to take in this case and does not diminish the severity of these crimes," Los Angeles County District Attorney Hochman said in a statement.
Hochman said the decision followed consultation with the Reiner family while evaluating the aggravating factors that made Nick Reiner eligible for the death penalty, including multiple killings and the use of a dangerous weapon in the fatal stabbings. "Seeking capital punishment should be reserved for the most egregious instances, and we determined after a thorough review that the death penalty was not the appropriate resolution in this case," Hochman said. Less than 36 hours before they were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, Reiner, 78, and his wife, 70, attended a showing of Lyrics from Lockdown, a one-man show about race and mass incarceration in America.
In the years prior to their deaths, the couple had embraced Nanon Williams, the subject of Lyrics from Lockdown, as Williams served his 34th year in a Texas prison for a murder he claims he did not commit, NBC News reported in January. The couple communicated with 51-year-old Williams regularly and even invited him to live at their home if he were ever released from prison. "He became like family," Rob and Michele's daughter, Romy, told NBC News in a statement earlier this year.
The Reiners' bond with Williams centered upon ideals of love, chosen family, compassion and redemption, NBC said. The couple had been "an integral part of my life," Williams told NBC News in a January interview from prison. "They became a part of me." Nick Reiner, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and remains held without bail while awaiting trial, is scheduled to return to court on October 7.
If convicted, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Reiner's attorney, public defender Kimberly Greene, said she applauded Hochman's decision. "Nick has a serious mental illness and a long history of struggling with self-medication," Greene said in a statement.
"His circumstances are a tragic example of how difficult it can be for people experiencing significant mental health challenges to access and navigate the treatment and support they need. Nothing can undo the profound loss experienced by the Reiner family and those who loved them. Our hearts remain with the family." Reiner, who won a posthumous award this year for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on The Bear, was honored by friend and costar Jamie Lee Curtis during an emotional tribute at the Emmy Awards on Monday.
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