Argument Over Turning Off NFL Game Ends in Horrific Family Tragedy

An argument over an NFL game spiraled into a horrifying act of violence just days before Christmas, leaving a Florida family shattered and a 13-year-old girl fighting for her life.

The tragedy unfolded Monday night in Lakeland, Florida, after a dispute between Jason Kenney, 47, and his wife, Crystal Kenney, over watching the end of Monday Night Football, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

Investigators say Kenney had been drinking throughout the evening. He was initially outside in a shed before coming into the house and sitting down to watch the football game in the living room, where Crystal was already present. When she told him she didn’t want to watch football, the argument escalated rapidly.

As tensions rose, Crystal reportedly screamed for her 12-year-old son to call 911. The boy ran to a neighbor’s house as gunshots rang out inside the home.

Deputies arrived minutes later to a devastating scene. Crystal Kenney was found dead in the living room from a gunshot wound to the head. Her 13-year-old daughter had been shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the face. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she remains in critical but stable condition.

“She said, ‘I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway,’” Sheriff Judd said during a press conference.

The couple’s one-year-old baby girl was also inside the home at the time. Authorities said she was found asleep in her crib and was unharmed.

After the shooting, investigators say Jason Kenney fled the scene in his truck. He called his sister, who lives in upstate New York, and told her he had done something “really bad” and was not going to jail.

Deputies later tracked Kenney to his late father’s property in Lake Wales, where he was hiding inside a shed. When officers ordered him to come out, they heard a single gunshot. Kenney was found dead from what authorities believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“He just absolutely destroyed a family,” Judd said. “Not to mention the mental health of two children without their mother and a father three days before Christmas.”

Inside the Lakeland home, detectives were struck by the contrast between the violence and the setting. Judd described seeing a decorated Christmas tree with presents underneath, calling it the image of a family that should have been celebrating the holidays together.

Neighbors told investigators this was not the first time Kenney had been abusive, though the sheriff’s office said there were no prior calls for service at the residence and Kenney had no criminal record.

Judd also revealed investigators found a handwritten note Crystal had written at some point in the past. In it, she confronted her husband about his drinking and alleged cocaine use, urging him to change for the sake of the family and turn to faith.

The surviving children, including two from Crystal’s previous relationship and the couple’s baby, are now in the care of their grandparents.

“This is horrific,” Judd said. “But destroying a family and the mental health of these children so close to Christmas is especially horrific. We will do everything we can to help this family get through this difficult time.”