Yesterday, a Kansas City Chiefs linebacker fatally shot his girlfriend, then drove to the Chiefs practice facility and shot himself. Jovan Belcher, a 25-year-old football player originally from Long Island, shot girlfriend Kasandra Perkins just before 8 a.m. Saturday. Belcher was met by Coach Romeo Crennel and General Manager Scott Pioli soon after at Arrowhead Stadium: “They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they’d done for him,” said Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp. “They were just talking to him and he was thanking them and everything. That’s when he walked away and shot himself.”
According to reports, Belcher was furious with 22-year-old Perkins after she came home around 1 a.m. from a Trey Songz concert. The two have a three month old baby, Zoey, who was born on September 11th. Belcher’s mother, Cheryl E. Shepherd, who was staying with the couple, was in the house with the baby at the time of the shooting. She told cops that her son had shot Perkins. Neighbors heard the shooting as well: “I was cooking breakfast when I heard a pop or a boom, and I thought it was something that fell over in my house,” said Kayetta Grant. “Then I saw a Bentley speed around the corner.”
Family and friends of the couple say they never saw anything like this coming: "I never got any vibes about something like this," said Frank Riviezzo, who was the defensive coordinator at West Babylon when Belcher played there. "Something went crazy wrong, and we'll probably never know what it is," Belcher's agent Joe Linta told Sports Illustrated, adding he "never in a million years" thought the player was capable of such violence.
“He was a good person, a family man, a guy you would want to keep,” said former PAL football coach Ruben Marshall. “And I’m sorry his life was taken away, but God has a plan for him.” "Kasandra and Jovan, when I was here, it seemed like they loved each other," said Devene Dunson-Rusher, who said she was a close friend of Perkins. “We’re extremely upset,” said Frank Aikey, Perkin’s great-grandfather. “We loved the girl. She was a beautiful girl and a great person. The whole family loved her very much.”
Belcher, who attended West Babylon High School in Long Island, started every game during his four-year career at the University of Maine, and played for the Chiefs for four seasons. Pioli and Crennel told police that they were never threatened by Belcher and were never in fear during the confrontation before he killed himself. At one point, they said to him: “No more violence, Jovan.”
