Kasandra Perkins and Jovan Belcher were remembered by family members as a happy couple with a newborn baby before the Kansas City Chiefs player reportedly murdered his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself.
Family members say there were few signs as to what set Belcher off on Saturday, when he shot and killed Kasandra Perkins before driving to the team’s practice facility and taking his own life. The Chiefs linebacker had a three-month old baby together with Perkins, and when he found out she was pregnant he was “ecstatic.”
As TMZ reported , Jovan and Kasandra seemed to be very much in love, especially since the baby was born in September. Family members of the 22-year-old Perkins said that news of the murder-suicide was a complete shock.
Police said that Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkins had an argument before the shooting on Saturday, the Kansas City Star noted. The argument started at close to 1 am Saturday, when Kasandra Perkins returned to her home from a Trey Songz concert and having drinks with friends. Belcher was mad she stayed out so late, a friend of Perkins said.
Seven hours later, Belcher would shoot Kasandra Perkins in the presence of his mother, who was visiting from New York.
Belcher then drove to the Chiefs practice facility, where he thanked the team’s head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli for all they had done for him. As the two men tried to talk Belcher out of hurting himself, the player reportedly walked away and pulled the trigger, killing himself.
The murder-suicide has been especially hard on the players Jovan Belcher was close to on the team. Kasandra Perkins was the cousin of the wife of another player, Jamaal Charles, who introduced the couple.
