Florida man kills wife, shoots stepdaughter over NFL game argument before taking own life
A Florida man shot and killed his wife and shot his stepdaughter earlier this week before fatally shooting himself after an argument over an NFL game, authorities said.
Jason Kenney, 47, took his own life hours after killing his wife, Crystal Kenney, Dec. 22, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said at a press conference.
Judd said the murder occurred after Crystal Kenney suggested to her husband that he turn off Monday’s NFL game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts.
Jason Kenney had been drinking, and the argument escalated, prompting his wife to tell her 12-year-old son to call 911.
The boy ran to a neighbor’s home when he heard gunshots. Responding deputies found Crystal Kenney dead and a 13-year-old girl who had been shot in the shoulder and face.
She is recovering in a hospital.
"She said, ‘I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway,’" Judd said.
The boy was unharmed, as was Jason and Crystal’s 1-year-old daughter, who was home at the time of the shooting. She was found by deputies asleep in her crib.
After the shooting, Jason Kenney fled and called his sister, who lives in upstate New York, Judd said. He told her he had "done something" wrong and that it would be the last time they would talk.
He then drove to his father’s home, where deputies found him. As deputies attempted to get him out of a shed, Jason fatally shot himself, Judd said.
During a search of the family’s home, deputies found a note Crystal wrote to her husband urging him to get help.
"You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way the family should be. You need God," the note states, Judd said.
The surviving children are in the custody of grandparents.
"The entire family was destroyed," Judd said. "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."