In the early hours of the morning, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher reportedly murdered his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins and later turned the gun on himself. Read more about the murder/suicide inside....
25-year-old Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher put a bullet in his head this morning, only minutes after killing his 22-year-old girlfriend Kasandra Perkins.
The Kansas City Star reports that Jovan got into a heated argument with Kasandra around 7:50am stemming from her arriving home at 1am following a Trey Songz concert. During the fight, he shot Kasandra multiple times. Jovan's mother, who lives with the couple and was helping with their couple's 2-month-old daughter, witnessed the shooting and called police.
A neighbor, Kayetta Grant, said,“I was cooking breakfast when I heard a pop or a boom, and I thought it was something that fell over in my house. Then I saw a Bentley speed around the corner.”
Jovan then got in his car and made a short drive to the Chiefs' practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium, where he later shot himself in front of his head Coach Romeo Crennel and General Manager Scott Pioli. Police were called to the stadium around 8:10am and had already learned of Kasandra's mother death.
Police Capt. David Lindaman said Jovan "... had a conversation with Scott Pioli. There was no threat and it was quite friendly, from what I understand. The Chiefs organization had been very supportive of him and he was expressing that.” His last words were"I love you."
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt later released the following statement:
“The entire Chiefs family is deeply saddened by today’s events, and our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the families and friends affected by this unthinkable tragedy. We sincerely appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support we have received from so many in the Kansas City and NFL communities, and ask for continued prayers for the loved ones of those impacted.
We will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities and work to ensure that the approporiate counseling resources are available to all members of the organization.”
Surprisingly, Kasandra's family said they were shocked by this morning's tragic events because the couple seemed so happy since the birth of their daughter two months ago. One relative said, “He was happy, he was fine, he was great. We were just cracking jokes and carrying on like we always do. I don’t know what happened. He’s the last guy you’d think that could be capable of doing something like this. We don’t know how to feel.”
Oddly, this is the second murder-suicide the Chiefs have dealt with in the past four months. Luis Angel Roberson Rodriquez, part of the team’s stadium operations department, killed himself after shooting his girlfriend Jamie Kristine Kimble near the Tampa International Airport on Labor Day. SMH.
We'll keep you posted as more infomation emerges...
Photos via Facebook