Jason Kenney, Highland City, Florida man shoots & kills wife, Crystal Kenney, critically injures 13 year old stepdaughter after fight over football game before fatally shooting self dead according to Polk County authorities.
A spiritual crises ….. A Florida man shot and killed his wife, critically injured his 13-year-old stepdaughter before turning the weapon on himself and dying of a self inflicted gunshot wound according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
The apparent murder-suicide at the family home comes just three days before Christmas.
Deputies responded to a home on Lemon Avenue in the Highland City area of Lakeland after receiving a 911 call around 11 p.m, Monday night, December 22.
A spiritual crises in Highland City, Polk County
The caller said her 12-year-old neighbor ran to her house and asked her to call 911 because his stepfather and mother were fighting, according to deputies.
Leading up to the gun violence, Jason Kenney, 47, had been drinking in a shed while watching a Monday Night Football game featuring the San Francisco 49ers, when the man got into an argument with his wife, Crystal Kenney.
In a press release, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd Kenney said the father had entered the living room where his wife was and demanded to continue watching the ‘game’, Judd said. Crystal objected, leading to a heated argument, escalating with the mom telling her 12-year-old son to call 911. The boy fled unharmed as Kenney shot Crystal once. Arriving deputies found the woman deceased in the living room, WESH reported.
Kenney then went to the bedroom of his 13-year-old stepdaughter, where he shot her twice – once in the shoulder and once in the face. Authorities said the shot to the face deflected off the bridge of her nose and passed through the top of her head, sparing her. The teen underwent surgery and is expected to recover, Judd said, noting she begged her stepfather not to shoot her.
The couple’s 1-year-old daughter slept through the violence in her crib, untouched. Deputies discovered a note from Crystal citing Kenney’s drinking, cocaine use and need for spiritual help.
Polk County, Florida dad had no prior criminal history
Kenney fled in his truck to his late father’s home in Lake Wales, calling his out-of-state sister en route to confess he had ‘done something really bad’ and wouldn’t go to jail. When deputies arrived and ordered him from a shed, they heard a gunshot. Inside, they found Kenney dead from a self-inflicted head wound.
Judd noted no prior police calls despite neighbors reporting Kenney’s abusive history; he had no criminal record.
‘Three days before Christmas, this man shot and killed his wife, shot his stepdaughter, and then shot and killed himself.’ Judd said. ‘This is horrific, but destroying a family and the mental health of these children so close to Christmas is especially horrific. We will do everything we can to help this family get through this difficult time.’
The 13-year-old remains in critical condition, and the other two children are with their grandparents.
