BEFORE THE 90 DAYS Rick Van Vactor’s son Pharoah murderd by his mom’s boyfriend in 2013

90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days Season 8 star Rick Van Vactor was forced to deal with an unimaginable tragedy when his 2-year-old son was murdered by the boyfriend of his son’s mother in 2013.

RICK VAN VACTOR’S SON PHARAOH’S DEATH

Two-year-old Pharaoh Van Vactor was murdered in November of 2013 by 26-year old Mathew Berry, who was the live-in boyfriend of Pharaoh’s mother, Adrianna Brown.

From Tehachapi News:

Berry, Pharaoh and the child’s mother, Adrianna Brown, had spent Nov. 19 running errands together. Berry wanted to pick up a tool at the Home Depot in Mojave, but Brown asked him to drop her off at their California City home first.

He asked if Pharaoh could come with him for the trip, and she agreed. They were supposed to return that evening, but Berry said he decided to go off-roading instead of heading to the store. Investigators found his vehicle stuck in the desert, and used a tractor to remove it.

An hour after Berry left with Pharaoh, Brown started texting Berry insisting that he bring Pharaoh back. Berry replied initially, but eventually stopped responding to texts and calls.

Pharaoh’s mother “didn’t want to fear the worst, but she called hospitals and she reported Pharaoh missing,” Tehachapi News reported. “Brown said she went to a sheriff’s office on Wednesday morning.”

A bus driver came upon Pharaoh and Berry lying next to a road outside California City the morning of Nov. 20. The driver realized the child was dead after the two boarded the bus, and he alerted authorities.

Berry refused to perform CPR on the child during the short bus ride despite a bus dispatcher pleading with him to do so. He refused to let anyone near the boy.

It wasn’t until Berry saw police waiting at a California City intersection that he began to perform CPR, the reports say. Pharaoh was pronounced dead at the scene and Berry was arrested.

The official autopsy determined Pharaoh died of blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen as the result of a homicide.

ADRIANNA BROWN AND MATHEW BERRY

Adrianna Brown and Mathew Berry had been dating for about five months at the time of Pharaoh’s death. She told Tehachapi News that she didn’t introduce Berry to Pharaoh until after they had been dating for two months.

Rick Van Vactor spoke with Tehachapi News on the phone and said he’d met Berry in person just twice, and they also spoke on the phone a couple times.

“(Their relationship) was kind of volatile,” Rick said of Berry and Pharaoh’s mother. “They argued all the time and stuff. But he never mentioned anything physical.”

Adrianna Brown admitted she and Berry argued. “He could get very mad and would punch things, like walls,” Brown said. “But he was never physically abusive to her or her son,” she added.

MATHEW BERRY FOUND GUILTY, SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE

In 2018, Mathew Berry pleaded no contest to the first degree murder of Pharaoh Van Vactor. He was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

“There’s nothing we can do to bring back the victim. Nothing we can do can make the family whole again,” Kern County deputy district attorney Nick Lackie said. “But that’s an appropriate sentence. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

According to the California Department of Corrections, Mathew Berry is still in prison. His Parole Eligible Date is listed as May, 2031.

RICK VAN VACTOR AND PHARAOH

The month after Pharaosh’s death, Rick Van Vactor began sharing videos of Pharaoh on YouTube. Those heartbreaking clips are still available to watch. Below are just a few examples.

You can also see Pharaoh in more recent videos posted by Rick. He has photos and a framed painting/drawing of Pharaoh on the mantle in his living room. Below is a screen cap from Rick’s 2019 workout video titled “Tapout XT Sprawl and Brawl.”

It’s unclear how much Rick will talk about Pharaoh on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, but it seems unlikely that such a life-shaping tragedy would not be mentioned at all.

Rick Van Vactor will be traveling to Madagascar to see if his relationship with “fiery midwife” Trisha will result in a happily ever after. New episodes air Sunday nights at 8/7c on TLC.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com