Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher is reported to have had drinks and dinner with another woman before he went home, killed his girlfriend after a blazing row, and then ended his own life.
The former Long Island high-school star took the woman, Brittni Glass, to her home, but spent the next few hours asleep in his Bentley outside, according to TheNew York Post‘s sources.
At around 2:30 a.m police officers woke him up and Belcher went inside Glass’ building, leaving about four hours later.
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Happy family: Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins before shooting himself at the Kansas City Chiefs’ stadium on Saturday morning
The New York Daily News reported that two of her neighbors let the intoxicated Belcher sleep in their apartment and woke him for a team meeting Saturday morning, as he asked them to.
He then returned home to argue with Perkins, 22, before shooting her and himself.
‘I was with him that night, that’s it,’ Glass told The New York Post yesterday.
Glass said she told police they had been together that night but were not in a relationship and would not say where he slept.
It has also emerged that during college, Belcher was cited after a University of Maine police officer responded to a call at a hall on campus and found him with cuts on his hand and arm, according to a 2006 police report obtained by USA Today.
The officer was told the star was hurt after punching a window because he was upset over a girl.
There was also a report about a complaint of disorderly conduct at a dorm after someone called police after hearing Belcher and a girlfriend row outside his room.
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher, 25, shot and killed his girlfriend and then himself on Saturday morning
Cops confirmed that several people came forward to tell them about Belcher’s visit. One neighbour said his car was outside and he went up to see Glass.
‘His Bentley was parked outside,’ a neighbor said. ‘He went upstairs. He was drunk. He went up to see the girl.’
Initial reports said Belcher flew into a rage after Perkins returned late from a Trey Songz concert at about 1am.
But according to Glass and her neighbors, Belcher wasn’t even home then.
Yesterday, Perkins’ family released a statement.
It said: ‘Our wish is for Kasi to be remembered for the love she shared with us all. Kasi will be truly missed.’
Police yesterday released the chilling audio between first responders investigating the murder-suicide committed by Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher.
The audio details how law enforcement reacted when they were informed that one of their city’s NFL players may be involved in a horrific crime.
‘I believe our suspect is a Chiefs player,’ says one unidentified first responder. ‘So whoever goes over there (should go) as soon as possible.’
Arriving to find victim Kasandra Perkins, one man describes the scene.
‘Early 20s female,’ it continues. ‘She’s been shot about three or four times. One to the chest, one to the neck, one to the abdomen. All went through.’
While Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher may have been struggling with booze, pills and head injuries, it was his controlling ways and stress at home that caused him to snap and kill his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself.
According to friends and family of Mr Belcher’s girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, the environment at home had grown tense and explosive since the birth of their baby girl three months ago.
‘It wasn’t a healthy thing that was going on,’ Angela Perkins, 32, of Round Rock, Texas, said of the relationship between Mr Belcher and her cousin.
Kasandra Perkins had gone out Friday night with girlfriends to the concert ‘to take a break,’ Perkins’ friend Lynell Diggs told Newsday.
‘[Belcher] didn’t want her going out with the baby at home,’ said Diggs, who was at the concert with a group of friends.
Cousin Angela Perkins told the newspaper the stress of having a baby just before the season and Belcher’s time away at practice and on the road ‘really put a strain’ on the relationship.
‘There was just a lot going on. She was stressed. He was stressed,’ Perkins said. ‘It just started to go bad, but they had the child, and they were trying to make it work.’
Newsday also reported that it wasn’t booze, pills or head injuries that contributed to the murder-suicide.
Mr Belcher’s cousin Eric Oakes said Mr Belcher didn’t experience any recent head trauma and wasn’t on any medication.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt backed up that claim on Sunday, saying that Mr Belcher had no unusual physical issues before Saturday, including concussions.
Earlier, however, Belcher’s friends said his mental state may have been deteriorated due to a history of head injuries, pain killers, and alcohol abuse.
Row: The couple apparently argued on Friday night after Perkins attended a concert by Trey Songz, pictured
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO BELCHER’S ORPHANED DAUGHTER?
Earlier this year Belcher and his 22-year-old girlfriend Kasandra Perkins had a baby daughter called Zoey.
Now three-months-old she has been orphaned after the tragedy at the weekend.
Relatives have revealed that Belcher’s mother Cheryl Shepherd, will now look after the child
She had been in Kansas City to help him and his girlfriend with their young daughter and watched as her son fatally shot Perkins early Saturday.
She called 911 as her son fled the house.
A person claiming to be close to Belcher, 25, has revealed in a series of e-mails that these issues as well as long-term domestic problems between himself and his girlfriend may have led Belcher to the murder-suicide he committed Saturday morning.
Belcher killed 22-year-old girlfriend and mother of his child Kasandra Perkins before driving to Arrowhead stadium and turning the gun on himself.
The couple’s orphaned 3-month-old daughter Zoey will now be raised by his mother in the Long Island home where he grew up.
In a series of e-mails to Deadspin, the friend said: ‘They have been arguing for quite sometime and had separated two weeks ago.’
The anonymous friend wrote: ‘He had brought her and the baby back home however, they were both arguing on a regular basis. Both of them are/were very young and immature and that combined with other factors led to this tragedy.’
The friend adds that many of their recent arguments focused on Perkins failing college classes Belcher paid for and quitting her retail job, as well as telling Belcher that she was leaving him and would find a lawyer to “get as much money as possible” from the football player.
And Belcher may have reacted to all this differently if he wasn’t messed up from booze, meds, and taking shots to the head on the field.
Family man: Belcher with his girlfriend at the birth of his son just months before he left the child orphaned
‘When it comes to prescription medication it is unclear from my perspective whether it was diagnosed and authorised by the team or not,’ the friend wrote. ‘However I know he was under the influence of narcotics for pain and I’m sure the toxicology report will reflect this.
‘However, Jovan drank a lot. On a nightly basis. This is not a mystery as he did so in public and private.
‘When it comes to his concussions; if you review the footage of the Cincinnati game he took a few hits to the head directly [...] he was dazed and was suffering from short term memory loss. He could not remember the events that had taken place prior to that game or what he had said to get Kasi to return home.’
Mail Online recently revealed that the NFL star was a member of a group which campaigns against violence towards women.
Jovan Belcher – who was raised by his mother – was part of Male Athletes Against Violence and had pledged to develop deep-held beliefs against attacking females.
Among the promises he would have made is one to ‘look honestly at my actions in regard to violence and make changes if necessary’.
Belcher would also have taken part in the White Ribbon campaign – those taking part vow to ‘never to commit, condone nor remain silent about violence against women’.
Mourning: Belcher’s teammates observe a moment of silence before the start of their NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in Kansas City
Hurt: Kansas City Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel wipes tears away on the sidelines of Sunday’s game
The 25-year-old linebacker was a member of MAAV whilst studying at the University of Maine where he played football for three years until he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009.
On Saturday his past as an anti-violence campaigner apparently meant little when he shot Perkins dead.
His mother discovered the body as she was living in the house too and called 911.
Belcher then drove to his team’s stadium and shot himself dead in front of his coach and general manager.
Sports Illustrated reported that Belcher specifically asked to speak to his coaches before ending his life.
‘I came here to tell you thank you,’ he is said to have told Scott Pioli. ‘Thank you for my chance. I love you, bro.’
Photos show blood smeared on the chrome gearshift of his black 2007 Bentley Continental GT and the car also had broken glass inside.
The horrific murder suicide came one day before a Kansas home game against the Carolina Panthers which went ahead as scheduled.
Just a day after the deaths, the Chiefs would take the field against theCarolina Panthers eventually winning their second game of the season 27-21.
City rocked: A fan expresses his sorrow following at Sunday’s game
Respects: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn gestures to heaven after a touchdown pass during the first half the teams game against the Carolina Panthers
Memorial: Kansas City Chiefs fans build a makeshift memorial for Belcher outside Arrowhead Stadium
Whilst at UMaine he was part of MAAV which describes itself as an ‘effort to involve men so that we can begin to understand that violence is very much a ‘man’s issue.’’
It supports the White Ribbon campaign in which male athletes wear a white ribbon as a public display of their stand against violent men.
Among the promotional posters are some with football players which have slogans like: ‘Join the huddle. Work together to end violence’ and ‘Stand tough against violence’.
Belcher himself has even spoken about his respect for women which he developed because his father was never around.
In a 2008 interview he said: ‘My mother is a hardworking woman.
‘To see her overcome some things and succeed, it makes me look at things and say, ‘this isn’t even hard.’
‘I didn’t really have a father figure, so they provided nice guidance for me.’
Gone: Belcher’s baby will never know its mother
Crime scene: Investigators stand outside an Independence, Mo., house where police say Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend on Saturday morning
On Facebook, a profile for Kasandra Perkins includes pictures of her and Belcher with their three month old baby
Judging from pictures posted on Kasandra’s Facebook page, the young couple had appeared to be happy and in love following the birth of their first child.
‘Jovan and Kasandra always seemed to be in love. In fact, when Kasandra got pregnant, she and Jovan were ecstatic. Ever since the baby was born in September, the two couldn’t have seemed happier together,’ a member of the Perkin’s family toldTMZ.
However, a friend told the Kansas City Star she had frequently seen them argue over the course of their relationship – though she had no reason to believe their fights had ever become violent.
Grieving: Belcher’s friends and relatives gathered outside his family home in West Babylon, New York
Comfort: Two people embrace outside Belcher’s home, hung with jerseys from the teams he played for
Toast: Mourners drink to Belcher’s memory after receiving news of his death on Saturday
Belcher’s agent Joe Linta told ESPN’s Adam Schefter: ‘I’m in shock. So out of character. He was the last person in the world you would expect to do this.’
‘Jovan was a happy, proud father, with pictures of his baby on his Facebook page,’ Linta told SI.com‘s Peter King in a phone call on Saturday afternoon. ‘This is shocking. Something went crazy wrong, and we’ll probably never know what it is.’
‘Never until four hours ago did I think Jovan was anything but a model citizen,’ Linta told King.
Happier days: Belcher and his girlfriend goof off in a photo booth
‘He came to my youth clinics in the off-season and worked with kids. He was a gracious, unselfish, hard-working, dedicated kid — very, very caring of some of the underprivileged kids who came to the clinics. I saw him in a real positive way.
‘I never take on anyone as a client I wouldn’t be proud to take home and spend time with my wife and kids. Jovan was one of those type of people.
‘There’s no word for this other than shocking. That’s all I can think of.’
Belcher was a 25-year-old native of West Babylon, New York, on Long Island, played college ball at Maine.
He had played all four of his NFL seasons for the Chiefs and played in every game each year, including the 11 so far this season. His 2012 salary was $1,927,000, four times what he had earned for the previous year.
Before turning the gun on himself, Belcher thanked Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli and Romeo Crennel for all they had done for him, police spokesman Darin Snapp said.
Belcher’s mother had recently moved in with the couple, possibly to help with the baby, at their residence in Independence, Missouri about five miles away from the Arrowhead complex.
She called police just before 8 a.m. to report Perkins had been shot multiple times. Perkins was transported to The University of Kansas hospital, where she died a short time later.
Perkin’s friend Brianne York, 21, said Sunday the couple argued about ‘normal couple stuff’ but that her friend was ‘really happy about being a mom.’
When she learned Saturday that Belcher had fatally shot Perkins at the couples’ home, York said, she thought someone must have been mistaken.
York, who met Perkins while taking classes at the Blue River campus of Metropolitan Community College, said the women bonded during their pregnancies. York has a baby boy who was born months before Perkins gave birth to Zoey.
‘It doesn’t seem that that would be the end of their story,’ York said.
‘It just seems like if things didn’t work out, they would have gone their separate ways. I would never have thought that this would be how it ended.’
York said that sometime after Halloween Perkins had gone to visit her family in Texas. Perkins also briefly stayed with her cousin, who is married to Chiefs player Jamaal Charles. Belcher and Perkins met through Charles, York said.
A message left for Charles and his wife through an assistant was not immediately returned.
York said the root of the argument was that Belcher, ‘sometimes he would just be down in his mancave or whatever,’ and Perkins wanted to spend more time together as a family.
‘They ended up wanting to try to work it out,’ York said, ‘and the next time I went over and visited she told me everything was good and things were better, so I thought everything was fine.’
Kristen VanMeter, 31, lives near the couple and said also she had taken community-college courses with Perkins. VanMeter said the couple threw ‘a lot of parties’ but said she heard nothing unusual the morning of the killing.
‘It’s a surprise,’ she said. ‘There had to of been something that triggered it.’
Shawn Martin, vice president of the neighborhood homeowners association, said she wasn’t aware of any problems that preceded the shooting.
She described the parties at the home Belcher and Perkins shared as ‘nothing more than any other young couple’ would have.
After having the baby, Perkins was taking the fall semester off school.
York said Perkins planned to return in January and wanted to become a teacher.
Video: Kansas City football player shoots his girlfriend dead and then kills himself
Jovan Belcher #59 stretches before a game against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium in 2009
‘When we arrived, a lady informed us that her daughter had been shot multiple times by her boyfriend, by the daughter’s boyfriend,’ Snapp said. ‘She identified him as a Chiefs player.’
Snapp told KCTV5 that a call was then received from the Chiefs’ practice facility.
‘The description matched the suspect description from that other address. We kind of knew what we were dealing with,’ he said. The player was ‘holding a gun to his head’ as he stood in front of the front doors of the practice facility.
‘And there were Pioli and Crennel and another coach or employee was standing outside and appeared to be talking to him. It appeared they were talking to the suspect,’ Snapp said.
‘The suspect began to walk in the opposite direction of the coaches and the officers and that’s when they heard the gunshot. It appears he took his own life.’
The coaches told police they never felt in any danger, Snapp said.
‘They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they’d done for him,’ he said. ‘They were just talking to him and he was thanking them and everything.
Kasandra Perkins’ Facebook profile includes pictures of her with Belcher and their young baby
Jovan Belcher pictured changing his young child’s diaper
Originally from Texas, Kasandra Perkins had moved to Missouri to be with Belcher
‘They said he was not a danger to anyone else,” Snapp said. ‘Belcher thanked them for being a Chief, and that’s when he walked away.’
Outside Belcher’s family home in West Babylon, Long Island, family and friends gathered on Saturday afternoon to toast their deceased friends life.
They have created a shrine to the football player on Matthews Avenue complete with Chiefs jerseys and flags from the University of Maine.
Ruben Marshall, a family friend who said he was Belcher’s Police Athletic League coach growing up, told NewsdayBelcher was a ‘loving father and family man.’
‘I couldn’t believe it,’ he said upon hearing the news Saturday morning. ‘I didn’t want to believe it,’ Marshall, 42, said as he stood outside the home.
‘He was a good person,” Marshall said. ‘Somebody you’d want to be around as a role model.’
Upon arriving at the Arrowhead Stadium complex, police witnessed a black male in a car with a handgun to his head talking to two Chiefs officials
Before killing himself, Belcher thanked Kansas City Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel for everything he had done for him
‘The entire Chiefs family is deeply saddened by today’s events, and our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the families and friends affected by this unthinkable tragedy,’ Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement.
‘We sincerely appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support we have received from so many in the Kansas City and NFL communities, and ask for continued prayers for the loved ones of those impacted,’ Hunt said. ‘We will continue to fully cooperate with the authorities and work to ensure that the appropriate counseling resources are available to all members of the organization.’
The NFL released a statement that also expressed sympathy and said, ‘we have connected the Chiefs with our national team of professional counselors to support both the team and the families of those affected. We will continue to provide assistance in any way that we can.’
Kansas City Mayor Sly James went to Arrowhead and met with Pioli afterward, according to the Kansas City Star.
Shooting: Arrowhead Stadium is home of the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City
Belcher had been the Chiefs starting inside linebacker for the last two seasons after going undrafted in 2009
‘Think about your worst nightmare and multiply it by five,’ James was quoted as saying.
‘This is part of the tragedy of urban living in this country,’ Mayor James told reporters outside the practice facility.
‘Handguns all over the place, people blowing themselves away, and others. At some point we have to get a handle on this kind of stuff. We are not doing a good job of it.’
Belcher is the second Kansas City Chiefs employee to be involved in a murder-suicide in the last four months. On Labor Day Luis Angel Roberson Rodriquez, who worked in the Chiefs stadium operations department, killed himself after shooting his girlfriend Jamie Kristine Kimble near the Tampa International Airport.
The Kansas City Chiefs home game against the Carolina Panthers is scheduled to go ahead on Sunday
The body of Belcher’s girlfriend was taken to The University of Kansas Hospital
The season has been a massive disappointment for the Chiefs, who were expected to contend for the AFC West title.
But they’re just 1-10 and mired in an eight-game losing streak that has been marked by devastating injuries and fan upheaval, with constant calls the past few weeks for general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel to be fired.
The Chiefs have been ravaged by injuries, led the league in turnovers, can’t settle on a quarterback and are dealing with a full-fledged fan rebellion. The Twitter account for a fan group known as “Save Our Chiefs” recently surpassed 80,000 followers, about 17,000 more than the announced crowd at a recent game.
Things have been so bad this season that Crennel fired himself as defensive coordinator.
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