McCann Utu Jr. Murder: Son Accused Of Killing Dallas Television Personality Stacy Fawcett Was ‘Not Himself’ After High School Concussions

McCann Utu Jr. is accused of killing his brother and mother, popular Dallas television personality Stacy Fawcett, in a fit of rage, and now those close to the teen say a concussion he suffered playing high school sports may be to blame for a dramatic change in his personality.

Police say the 19-year-old McCann stabbed his mother and brother to death in Plano, Texas, early Friday morning before turning the knife on himself. McCann was rushed to a nearby hospital but later died of his wounds as well.

The murders were shocking for the Dallas community, who remembered Fawcett as “Dallas’s Favorite Foodie” on Channel 8’s News 8 Daybreak. The deaths were just as shocking for family and friends of McCann Utu Jr., who said the boy they knew would never have been capable of such violence.

Many believe that McCann’s personality changed after he suffered a pair of concussions in high school, one playing basketball and the other in an altercation.

Stacy Fawcett had a food segment on WFAA weekend mornings. Her son Josiah Utu a Plano WestHS student. pic.twitter.com/riqyr4ATs4

— ???? ????? (@SaulGarzaMedia) April 8, 2016

After McCann suffered the first concussion, he was unable to play sports again because he could not pass the school’s concussion protocol test.

“When he kept failing it, he had a lot of free time on his hands, he wasn’t showing up to practice,” said McCann’s longtime friend, Waseem Limbada, in an interview with News 8. “It just put him with the wrong crowd, started doing drugs, started being with the wrong people.

“I felt like he was depressed emotionally.”

Others remember McCann Utu Jr. as a caring friend and a good brother to Josiah Utu, who was also killed in the attack. Josiah’s Instagram page showed that the brothers appeared to be especially close.

Limbada added that McCann seemed to be a different person after suffering the concussions.

“The past year when he had his concussion is when I started seeing drastic changes, where he started to isolate himself,” Limbada said. “But he just kept it all inside, but he just let it out all at once.

“McCann is a good dude. Josiah, rest in peace. Miss Fawcett, rest in peace. They’ll be remembered forever. But just know, McCann, he is a good guy, and I feel like at that moment, he was just not himself.”

McCann’s father, McCann Utu Sr., also posted a message implying that his son’s concussions triggered the violent behavior.

“I’m in so much pain and need to grieve for my boys and Stacy right now,” he said in a statement to News 8. “I will stay in touch when the time is right. Please respect this time for me and my entire for family. Thank you… God will use my pain to help and save other that are going through mental illness and concussion. God will glorify through my pain.”

The murders of Stacy Fawcett and Josiah Utu come at a time when greater scrutiny is being placed on concussions and the long-term danger they pose. There is also an increase in research for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a condition commonly known as CTE that can result from repeated head injuries, like those suffered in sports. A number of former NFL players have tested positive for CTE, which can bring about greater tendencies toward violence and suicidal behavior.

On Saturday, many friends gathered to remember Josiah Utu as well as Stacy Fawcett, but they also held vigil for McCann Utu Jr., asking that people not judge him by his final violent act in life.

[Image via McCann family/WFAA]