Photo: Myspace; Matthew Rettenmund/SplashNews.com
The California man whostabbed his mother to deathand thentried to blame his actor fatherwas a former quarterback on the Harvard University football team who graduated with a degree in psychology.
The dispatcher went on to note that “someone defended someone” and then the male hung up the phone. When she called back, a man responded who sounded “out of breath, unintelligible, and crying.”
Responding officers found Valerie Ely, 62, dead at the scene and, after speaking to the 81-year-old Ron, located Cameron outside the home. A sheriff’s office spokesperson told PEOPLE that Cameron “posed a threat,” which prompted four deputies to fire “their service weapons at the suspect, fatally wounding him.”
Ely is listed on the2007 football team’s rosteras a freshman quarterback from Phillips Exeter Academy, but he is not listed on the rosters of football teams in subsequent years.
A 2007Harvard Crimsonarticleon that year’s football recruiting class says Ely “sports the conventional Harvard-recruited stats: a GPA above 4.0, questionable arm strength and supreme intelligence to go along with his ability to make ‘good decisions,’ according to prominent recruiting Web site Scout.com.”
A Harvard spokesperson tells PEOPLE Ely graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology on May 24, 2012.
The Los Angeles TimesreportsEly was a licensed security guard for the past two years.
Representatives for the Ely family did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Prior to marrying Ron, Valerie competed in theMiss Floridacompetition in 1981 while representing Miami. She went on to compete at the Miss USA beauty pageant later that year but did not win.
She was also a former flight attendant and even won Miss Airlines International, a beauty pageant for flight attendants and other airline employees, in 1980, according toThe Miami News.
Besides their son Cameron, Ron and Valerie, who wed in 1984, shared two daughters, Kirsten and Kaitland, 32.
Valerie and Ron Ely.Kirsten Ely/Instagram; James Lemke Jr./WireImage
The sisters, who are both social media influencers, have yet to speak out about the tragedy but previously described their adoration for their parents on Instagram and in blog posts.
Ron was a veteran actor who played the role of Tarzan from 1966 to 1968.
He also starred in the iconic seventies showFantasy Islandand the 1975 filmDoc Savage: The Man of Iron and Bronze.Additionally, he hosted the Miss America pageant in the 1980s.
Ron Ely as Tarzan.Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
After getting married to Valerie, Rontook a break from actingto focus on raising their children. More recently, he had a role in the 2014 television movieExpecting Amish.
The sheriff’s office spokesperson said no deputies were injured during the confrontation and noted that the office is currently conducting criminal, coroner’s, and administrative investigations.
Ron also did not suffer any injuries but was taken to the hospital as a precaution. An autopsy of both Valerie and Cameron is pending.
source: people.com
