Monday Night Football ended in a tragedy for one family in Florida.
According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd at a press conference on Tuesday, 47-year-old Jason Kenney allegedly killed his wife, Crystal Kenney, and shot his 13-year-old daughter before taking his own life after they got into a “heated” argument over him watching the game. OMG.
Kenney reportedly had been drinking and watching the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts game at their Highland City home on December 22. Around 11:00 p.m., Judd said Crystal suggested the family watch something else instead of football during the final minutes of the game, and a fight broke out. As the argument escalated, the woman told her 12-year-old son to call 911. The boy ran to the neighbor’s house to call the police and suddenly heard gunshots. When police arrived at the scene, they sadly found Crystal dead. She had been fatally shot in the head, allegedly by Kenney. Just awful. And unfortunately, she was not the only victim inside the home.
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Cops also found Crystal’s 13-year-old daughter, who is Kenney’s stepdaughter, in one of the bedrooms, and she had been shot twice — once in the shoulder and once in the face. And Judd claimed Kenney “intended to kill her” as well. The teenager was rushed to the local hospital in critical condition. Thankfully, she is alive and now stable. She was also able to give her side of the story about what happened that horrible night. Judd claimed the teen told investigators:
“‘I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway.’”
This poor young girl. She never should’ve had to go through this. Her brother was thankfully not hurt in the incident, nor was the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, who Judd said was found asleep in her crib.
Judd revealed following the two shootings, Kenney immediately fled the scene in his vehicle and called his sister in upstate New York, telling her he had “done something very, very bad” and that they would never talk again. He allegedly said she would see him on the news, and he is “not going to jail for the rest of my life.” Judd said Kenny drove to his recently deceased father’s house, where deputies tracked him down. He then went into the shed. As cops surrounded the building, they heard a single gunshot. Inside, Judd shared that they found Kenney had fatally shot himself.
Jeez…
Amid law enforcement’s investigation, they discovered a note Crystal wrote to her husband begging him to get help for his substance abuse. Judd said the message stated:
“You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way the family should be. You need God.”
It’s unknown when Crystal wrote the note at this time. The surviving children are in the custody of their grandparents for now. Judd concluded:
“The entire family was destroyed. Our homicide detectives are distraught. When you go in there, there is a beautiful Christmas tree with lots of Christmas presents under it, just like the nuclear family should be.”
What happened to these kids is so awful. We’re sending our condolences to them following the tragedy. Watch the entire press conference (below):
To learn more about the impact of gun violence, visit https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, help is available. Consider calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233, or text START to 88788, or go to https://www.thehotline.org/.
If you or someone you know is experiencing substance abuse, help is available. Consider checking out the resources SAMHSA provides at https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline or check out StartYourRecovery.org.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
[Image via Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Jason Kenney/Facebook]
