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On Saturday, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker JOVAN BELCHER fatally shot his 22-year-old girlfriend after an argument at their home, then drove to the team's practice facility, thanked the GM and the coach, and SHOT HIMSELF in front of them.
Full Story:
On Saturday, 25-year-old Kansas City Chiefs linebacker JOVAN BELCHER fatally shot his girlfriend, then drove to the team's practice facility and killed himself in front of the GM and the coach. Here are the four things you need to know:
#1.) Belcher and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, had been together three years, and had a 3-month-old daughter named Zoe. But they just broke up two weeks ago. And this weekend was one of the first times they'd talked since then.
--Kasandra and some of her friends went to a TREY SONGZ concert Friday night, then hit the after-party. She and Belcher began arguing around 7:00 A.M. Saturday morning, when she finally got back to their home in Kansas City.
--Belcher ended up shooting her multiple times, and police say Jovan's MOTHER witnessed the murder.
#2.) After he shot Kasandra, Belcher drove to the Chiefs' practice facility at Arrowhead Stadium, and ended up talking to general manager Scott Pioli, and head coach Romeo Crennel.
--Police had already been called, and when they arrived, they saw Crennel and Pioli talking to Belcher, who had the gun to his head.
--Crennel and Pioli were trying to talk Belcher into putting the gun down, but it didn't work. He actually thanked them for all they'd done for him . . . then SHOT himself right there in front of them.
#3.) The Chiefs' game against the Carolina Panthers still went ahead on Sunday, and the Chiefs ended up winning, 27-to-21. It was their first win in TWO MONTHS.
--The Chiefs had a moment of silence for victims of domestic violence before the game, but didn't mention Belcher.
(--Maybe they were trying to avoid what happened to the WWE a few years back, when they held a tribute to CHRIS BENOIT after he died . . . then they found out he'd murdered his wife and son.)
--After the game, Crennel said his thoughts and prayers were with the families of both Kasandra and Jovan. And he declined to discuss the details of what happened on Saturday. (--Here's a clip from his press conference.)
--Belcher had been with the Chiefs for four seasons, after being undrafted out of the University of Maine.
#4.) The motive is still unknown, but some people are wondering . . . is this another piece of evidence that the concussions caused by football can transform people in unthinkable ways?
--Reports are coming out that Belcher may have suffered short-term memory loss and other concussion-related symptoms recently, after taking hits in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 18th.
--And there's talk that he even sat out last week's game because of it. Reports also say that he took lots of painkillers and drank HEAVILY on a regular basis.
--A lot of that comes from a supposed "friend" of Belcher's who wrote in to the website Deadspin.com, and said that Belcher and his girlfriend had been fighting A LOT. In fact, she had moved out with their daughter and only recently came back.
--The other theory is that they started arguing because Belcher thought Kasandra CHEATED on him with Trey Songz . . . even though she'd never even met him.
--She didn't hang out with any guys at the after-party, and was never even near Trey. But Belcher was upset she didn't come right home after the show.
--She actually had to leave the party after getting an angry text from Belcher . . . and that was the last time her friends saw her.
(--Anyway, here's video of Belcher in happier times. It's from NFL show "Under the Helmet" in 2010. Also, BOB COSTAS did an anti-gun editorial during "Sunday Night Football". You can watch it here.)
(--Delicious Audio Alert: Grab all the related audio here.)