Billy Crystal Ensuring Rob Reiner’s Kids Have ‘Robust Support System’ Ahead of Murder Trial (Exclusive)

Billy Crystal was incredibly close to Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, and has been helping their children, Jake, 34, and Romy, 28, as they grieve the tragic loss of their parents.

Their brother, Nick Reiner, was arrested and charged with their December 14 murders and is being held without bail at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. At press time, the 32-year-old had yet to enter a plea.

“The Reiner kids are not going to have to face the difficult next few years alone,” a source tells the National Enquirer. “Billy and the Crystal family are stepping up and making sure that Jake and Romy have a robust support system and all the help they will possibly need as Nick makes his way through the criminal justice system.”

On Wednesday, January 7, Nick’s attorney Alan Jackson announced he was removing himself from the case, but not before telling reporters: “What we’ve learned and you can take this to the bank, is that pursuant to the laws of this state, Nick Reiner is not guilty of murder. Print that.”

Crystal, 77, was reportedly one of the first people Reiner’s daughter Romy called after discovering her parents’ slain bodies. The When Harry Met Sally star and his wife, Janice Crystal, raced over to the director’s Brentwood, Calif., home. A neighbor told ABC 7 Los Angeles that he “looked like he was about to cry.”

“[Billy] and Rob were more than just collaborators,” says Enquirer’s source. “They were brothers and he has stepped up instinctually, like only real family can. Losing his friends has put a fire in his belly.”

The five-time Emmy winner is working alongside a tight group of friends who are pulling out all the stops and opening their hearts as well as their checkbooks, adds the source. “It’s become clear that filling the absence [that] Rob and Michelle’s death and Nick’s arrest created will be the focus of the rest of his life.”