A family experienced an unfathomable tragedy this week when a domestic dispute over a football game turned deadly just three days before Christmas — leaving a mother dead and a 13-year-old girl critically injured.
On Tuesday, December 23, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a press conference about a murder-suicide attempt that took place on Monday, December 22, in Highland City, Florida. Investigators said that Jason Kenny was drinking and watching the San Francisco 49ers game when he got into a fight with his wife, Crystal Kenny, around 11:00 p.m.
The argument reportedly escalated when Crystal suggested that they change the television channel to watch something other than the game.
The situation continued to grow worse, and Crystal told her 12-year-old son to go to a neighbor’s house and call 911. The boy then fled the home, and as he did, heard a gunshot and continued heading for the neighbor’s house to get help.
Deputies arrived at the home within five minutes of the shooting, and they found Crystal dead after she had been shot in the head. Additionally, deputies found Crystal’s 13-year-old daughter in her bedroom. The teen was suffering from two gunshot wounds after she was hit once in the shoulder and once in the face.
While reflecting on the girl’s shooting, Judd said it was a “Christmas miracle” that she survived. He went on to explain that the bullet struck the bridge of her nose and traveled upward, managing to exit her body without killing her.
The teen is currently in critical but stable condition at Lakeland Regional Health, while Judd also added that she is alert.
“She said, ‘I beg you, don’t shoot me. Don’t shoot me.’ And he shot her anyway,” Judd told members of the media during the press conference.
Kenny and Crystal also shared a one-year-old child together, who was found unharmed in their crib following the accident.
Kenny fled the scene in his vehicle and drove toward Lake Wales after he shot Crystal and her daughter. He reportedly called his sister to confess to the crime while he was in the car, telling her that he had done something “very bad” and did not want to go to jail.
Deputies managed to track Kenny to his deceased father’s property in Lake Wales, and they set up a perimeter around a shed where he barricaded himself. Authorities heard a single gunshot come from inside the shed, and a SWAT team entered the property to find that Kenny had ended his own life.
As investigators searched through the couple’s home, they found a note Crystal had written to Kenny in which she pleaded for him to stop using cocaine and alcohol. Police had no prior records of domestic violence between the couple, though their family members later told detectives that they had a history of abuse.
“Quite frankly, I don’t want to sound sinister, but the only thing he did right that night was shoot himself,” Judd said during the press conference. “He absolutely destroyed the family … three days before Christmas.”
Crystal’s three children have been placed in the custody of their grandparents following the tragedy.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
