A Florida mom is being remembered as a hero after she was fatally shot while trying to protect her children during a violent domestic dispute that erupted in murder late at night inside the family’s Lakeland home. Authorities say Crystal Roure was killed by her husband, Ryan Kenney, who also shot her 13-year-old stepdaughter in the face during an argument tied to an NFL game — a confrontation that left the teen critically wounded and shattered an entire family.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Kenney had been drinking throughout the evening of December 22 while watching his favorite team, the San Francisco 49ers, defeat the Indianapolis Colts. Deputies said tensions rose when the Florida mom told Kenney she no longer wanted to watch football. That comment, investigators said, enraged him and caused the argument to spiral out of control and ending in a deadly crime.
“Please don’t shoot me.” Police say Jason Kenney was drinking and watching football when he got mad at his wife, killed her and shot her 13-year-old daughter. pic.twitter.com/izpNGMy68t
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) December 27, 2025
Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters the situation reached a breaking point around 11 p.m., when “the argument got really heated.” Fearing for her children’s safety, Crystal Roure made a desperate decision. The Florida mom instructed her 12-year-old son to flee the house, go to a neighbor’s home, and call 911.
As the boy ran from the Lakeland residence, he heard a gunshot ring out behind him, Judd said. Florida Deputies rushed to the home and discovered a devastating scene. Roure was found dead from gunshot wounds. Nearby, her 13-year-old daughter — Kenney’s stepdaughter — was critically injured after being shot in the face.
Authorities later revealed the teen survived in what they described as a miracle, with the bullet striking her nose and ricocheting through the top of her head, narrowly missing vital areas. She was rushed to the hospital and remains under medical care.
Sheriff’s officials said the Florida mom placed herself between Kenney and the children as gunfire erupted, acting instinctively to shield them from further harm. Her actions are being credited with preventing even greater loss of life.
Inside the home, deputies also found the couple’s baby girl — their only child together — asleep and unharmed in her crib. Investigators confirmed the infant was not physically injured during the violence.
Florida man kills wife, shoots stepdaughter over NFL game argument before taking own life https://t.co/dre2XDrpLA pic.twitter.com/K6mMmrd0uw
— New York Post (@nypost) December 26, 2025
The hero Florida mom had two older children from a previous relationship and had married Kenney two years earlier after meeting him at church, deputies said. Investigators revealed the marriage had been troubled. Kenney was reportedly violent and struggled with drugs and alcohol. Deputies said an undated note written by Roure and found inside the home reflected her concerns.
“You know you’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way the family should be. You need God,” Crytal Roure wrote to her husband, according to law enforcement.
After the shooting, Ryan Kenney fled the scene and drove to his late father’s nearby home. Along the way, he called his sister in upstate New York and made chilling statements, Judd said.
“I’ve done something very, very bad, very bad,” Kenney told her. He added, “You’ll see me on the news, but I am not going to jail. I’m not going to jail for the rest of my life.”
Deputies tracked Ryan Kenney to his dad’s home and surrounded it. Moments later, they heard a gunshot coming from a shed behind the house. When Florida police officers entered the shed, they found Kenney dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Neighbors described the Florida mom and her family as quiet and said they were stunned by the violence. Several reported hearing gunshots and screams, prompting frantic emergency calls.
Child welfare officials have since stepped in to assist the surviving children of the hero Florida mom, who now face life without their mother and with their father deceased. Community members have rallied around the family, remembering Crystal Roure as a devoted mother whose final moments were spent protecting her children.
