A Florida family was torn apart after an argument over watching a Monday Night Football game on TV spiraled into a deadly shooting.
A mom-of-three was fatally shot while her teenage daughter was critically wounded, and a 47-year-old man died by suicide in the tragic incident just days before Christmas.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Jason Kenney, 47, killed his wife, Crystal Kenney, and shot his 13-year-old stepdaughter before fleeing the scene, and later turned the gun on himself.
The violence erupted late on Monday night after Crystal objected to Jason continuing to watch an NFL game inside the family’s home.
Sheriff Judd said Jason had been drinking while watching the San Francisco 49ers–Indianapolis Colts game in a shed behind the house, then returned inside for the final few minutes.
When Crystal challenged him over control of the television, the argument suddenly escalated.
As the confrontation intensified, Crystal told her 12-year-old son to run to a neighbor’s house and call 911.
The boy fled, but as he was leaving, he heard gunfire.
Jason Kenney, 47, fatally shot his wife, Crystal Kenney, and shot her 13-year-old daughter before fleeing the scene before later turning the gun on himself
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Jason had been drinking while watching an NFL game when an argument suddenly escalated out of control
‘So the 12-year-old flees to the neighbor’s house in order to dial 911, and as he’s leaving the house, he hears a gunshot,’ Judd said.
Deputies arrived within minutes, and once inside the home, they found Crystal Kenney dead, having been fatally shot in the head.
In a bedroom, they discovered her 13-year-old daughter had been shot twice – once in the shoulder and once in the face.
‘She said, “I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway,” Judd said, recounting what the girl told him when he spoke to her before a press conference.
Judd said the bullet struck the girl on the bridge of her nose, traveled upward, and exited through the top of her head.
‘That’s a Christmas miracle,’ he said.
The girl remains hospitalized in critical but stable condition, alert and able to speak, authorities said.
A one-year-old daughter shared by Jason and Crystal was also inside the home at the time of the shooting, but was unharmed. Deputies later found her asleep in her crib.
During a search of the family’s home, deputies uncovered a handwritten note Crystal had written to her husband, Jason, urging him to seek help
After the attack, Jason Kenney fled before deputies arrived. During the drive, Judd said, he called his sister in upstate New York.
‘He told her he had done something very, very bad,’ Judd said, adding that Jason told her ‘the next time you see me will be on the news.’
Jason then drove to his father’s home, where he barricaded himself inside a shed.
Deputies tracked him to the property and attempted to coax him out. Moments later, a single gunshot rang out.
Jason Kenney was found dead inside the shed, having taken his own life, Judd said.
During a search of the family’s home, deputies uncovered a handwritten note Crystal had written to her husband, urging him to seek help.
‘You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way the family should be. You need God,’ the note read, according to Judd.
Deputies arrived within minutes at the family home. Once inside, they found Crystal Kenney dead, having been fatally shot in the head. Her own husband, Jason, was her killer
The sheriff said the case devastated everyone involved, including seasoned investigators.
‘He just absolutely destroyed a family. Literally, not to mention the mental health of two children without their mother and a father three days before Christmas,’ Judd said. ‘Our homicide detectives are distraught.
‘Three days before Christmas, he shot and killed his wife, he shot his 13-year-old stepdaughter twice, and intended to kill her,’ Judd explained.
‘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.
‘The only thing he did right that night was shoot himself,’ Judd added.
All three children are now in the custody of their maternal grandparents.
