A drunken Florida man shot dead his wife, wounded his 13-year-old stepdaughter by shooting her in the face, and then died by suicide after a minor argument over him wanting to watch “Monday Night Football,” according to authorities. Jason Kenney, 47, took his own life inside a shed several hours after killing his wife, Crystal Kenney, authorities said.
The deadly shooting followed a heated argument on Sunday when Crystal asked him to turn off the San Francisco 49ers–Indianapolis Colts game, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. Kenney had been consistently drinking, and the request quickly escalated into a violent argument, followed by the horrific shooting, according to investigators.
In the Heat of the Moment
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Fearing things were spiraling out of control, Crystal told her 12-year-old son to call 911. The boy ran to a neighbor’s home, and while he was there, he heard gunshots ring out. When officers arrived at the family’s house, they found Crystal dead from gunshot wounds. Her 13-year-old daughter had also been shot, suffering injuries to her face and shoulder.
The teenage girl was rushed to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where she is now recovering. Despite her injuries, she was able to speak with investigators and describe the terrifying moments she endured.
“‘I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway,'” she told investigators, according to Judd.
Authorities said the boy who ran for help was not injured, and neither was the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, who was found sleeping peacefully in her crib. Kenney was the stepfather to Crystal’s two older children.
After the shooting, Kenney fled the home and later called his sister in upstate New York. During the call, he reportedly told her he had “done something” terrible and said they would never speak again.
Tragic End
He later drove to his father’s house, where deputies were able to locate him. As officers tried to convince him to come out of a shed on the property, Kenney shot himself, Sheriff Judd said. While searching the family’s home, investigators also found a handwritten note from Crystal to her husband, pleading with him to seek help for his struggles with substance abuse.
“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 children who survived the tragedy are now being cared for by their grandparents, authorities said.
“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.”
