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Sheriff Grady Judd holds press conference after murder-suicide in Polk County
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a press conference on Tuesday morning after a murder-suicide incident that happened overnight.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - An argument over Monday Night Football ended with a horrific rampage in Polk County that left two people dead and one critically injured, according to Sheriff Grady Judd.
The sheriff’s office says Jason Kenney started yelling at his wife Crystal after she suggested he turn off the San Francisco 49ers football game. Jason had been drinking throughout the night and the argument escalated to the point where Crystal told her 12-year-old son to call 911.
The boy ran to a neighbor's house for help and that’s when he heard gunshots.
PCSO deputies arrived at the home a short time later and found Crystal dead. When they entered a bedroom in the home, they found a 13-year-old girl who had been shot in the shoulder and the face.
She was taken to a nearby hospital where she is alive but in critical condition. Judd said that it is a miracle she is alive.
What they're saying:
"How does an argument over a television program end up with a murder, an attempted murder and a suicide? This should never happen," said Judd.
After the shooting, Jason took off in his car before deputies arrived. During the drive, Judd says that Jason called his sister, who lives in upstate New York, to tell her that he had done something very bad and this was the last time he would talk to her.
Jason drove to his father’s home in Lake Wales and deputies located him in a shed. As they were trying to get him out, he shot himself in the head.
During a news conference on Tuesday morning, Judd said that the inside of this family’s home seemed normal.
"The entire family was destroyed. And I must tell you, our homicide detectives are distraught. When they go in there, there is a beautiful Christmas tree with lots of Christmas presents under the tree just like the nuclear family should be."
The backstory:
Neighbors told deputies that this wasn’t the first time that Jason had acted in an abusive way, but Judd says that there have never been any calls to the home. Jason does not have a criminal history.
The 12 and 13-year-olds were Jason’s stepchildren. The couple also had a one-year-old together who was also inside the home during the incident.
The children are now living with their grandparents.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.