The 35-year-old also addressed his feelings toward his brother Nick, who is accused of the killings

NEED TO KNOW

• Jake Reiner opened up about the tragic deaths of his parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, in his first sit-down interview with KABC-TV on Thursday, Aug. 27
• Jake discussed his grief and described the moment his sister Romy discovered their parents had been killed
• Jake and Romy’s brother Nick Reiner, who has struggled with addiction, was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and remains in custody

Jake Reiner is opening up in his first sit-down interview eight months after the tragic deaths of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. 

The 35-year-old spoke with KABC-TV’s Marc Cota-Robles about his life since his parents’ deaths on Dec. 14, 2025, and his brother Nick Reiner’s arrest. Nick, 32, has since been indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

In the new interview, Jake recalled the moment he got a phone call from his sister Romy and how he realized that it was urgent. Jake was attending a celebration of life for a friend at Union Station in Los Angeles when Romy called.

“Romy called me, and I screened it because I thought at the time, ‘I’m in the middle of something,’ ” Jake told Cota-Robles.

When Romy, 28, called again “immediately,” Jake said he “knew at that point that something was wrong.”

“Romy told me our dad was dead, and then she said, ‘I can’t find Mom,’ ” Jake said.  “And I immediately went into shock. I need to get out of this train station, and I need to get to my parents’ house.”

Jake said he had seen crime scenes throughout his career as a local news reporter, but was shocked to find his own family at the center of one.

“When it’s your crime scene, like a crime scene at your childhood home, [it’s] like the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen,” Jake said.

“It’s been eight months. It feels like eight years at the same time. And it also feels like 8 minutes,” Jake said of the time that has passed following his parents’ deaths. “Because every moment that I wake up, I’m reminded of my reality.”

Jake declined to answer questions about his brother Nick and his alleged role in the deaths of his parents several times in the interview. Jake did say he knew how his parents felt about Nick, and expressed that they had a hands-on approach to his recovery from drug addiction.

“My parents had unconditional love for all three of us,” Jake told the outlet of himself, Nick and Romy. “I can tell you they never stopped wanting to help him. They never stopped helping him.”

Nick had previously been open about his struggles with addiction, teaming up with his father to create 2015’s Being Charlie, which was loosely based on Nick’s life. 

“I think that that project was a way for my dad to try and connect with him,” Jake said of the film. 

Throughout the interview, Jake had difficulty expressing his feelings about his brother, noting that the night his parents were killed, he lost more than half his family, including Nick. 

“I mean, he’s in jail so… you know, it’s like I physically lost my parents and then Nick was arrested and now it’s just me and Romy,” he explained. 

In the months since his parents’ deaths, Jake said he’s grappled with his grief, and has been in therapy to process the loss.

“It manifests into rage, into how unfair this was, how I didn’t get a say in what happened,” he said. “I didn’t get to stop it from happening. I had no choice in the matter. I just have to accept the reality of it. And to me, that is just one of the most infuriating parts of all of this.”

Despite the details that have come out about their deaths, Jake said he still struggles to come to terms with how his parents died.  

“I’ll never understand. I don’t care how it’s explained to me,” he said. “I don’t care what facts come out. I will never understand why this happened.”

Earlier this month, Nick was indicted on murder charges in connection with the December 2025 killings of his parents. 

According to the indictment obtained by PEOPLE, Nick is now also facing a new alleged special circumstance of lying in wait, in addition to the use of a knife.

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Nick remains behind bars at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. He was arrested hours after his parents’ murder near the campus of the University of Southern California and has been held without bail since.

He is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on Sept. 15.

If convicted as charged, Nick faces death or life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on whether to seek the death penalty has not yet been made, per the district attorney’s office.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.

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