Connect with us

Florida

Florida man kills wife, shoots stepdaughter after fight over NFL game: ‘Don’t shoot me’

Published

on

Florida man kills wife, shoots stepdaughter after fight over NFL game: ‘Don’t shoot me’



Police say Jason Kenney was drinking and watching football when he got mad at his wife, killed her and shot her 13-year-old daughter. A letter they found indicated he also was using cocaine.

Editor’s note: This story contains material about domestic violence and suicide. Those facing domestic abuse can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit its website for a virtual chat. If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.

A Florida man killed his wife and shot his stepdaughter in the face following an argument over watching a football game, authorities say.

Advertisement

Jason Kenney, 47, had been drinking and watching Monday Night Football in his shed in Highland City, just east of Tampa, until about 11 p.m. on Dec. 22, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference the following day. Kenney then went inside his home and wanted to continue watching the game in the living room, where his wife Crystal was, Judd said.

Crystal Kenney didn’t want to watch football and an argument ensued. As the fight escalated, Crystal told her 12-year-old son to run to a neighbor’s house and call 911, Judd said.

As the boy ran out of the home, he heard the first gunshot. Responding deputies found Crystal dead inside, her 13-year-old daughter shot in the face and shoulder, and Jason Kenney gone. The infant daughter the couple shared was unharmed, and the 13-year-old survived the gunshot wound after the bullet hit the bridge of her nose and deflected through the top of her head, Judd said.

“The 13-year-old girl begged not to be shot – ‘Please don’t shoot me. Please don’t shoot me,’” Judd said. “And he shot her twice.”

After shooting his wife and step-daughter, Kenney drove in his truck toward the home of his late father in Lake Wales, and called his sister to tell her he had “done something very, very bad,” that he would be in the news and that it was the last time they would talk to each other, Judd said.

Advertisement

Kenney ended up in a shed on his father’s old property. Deputies tracked him down and when they called for him to come out, they heard a single gunshot. They found Kenney dead inside.

Judd said that a relative told deputies that Kenney had been beating on Crystal “for a while,” though the sheriff’s office has no records of any domestic violence calls or charges. Jason Kenney had no criminal history, Judd said.

Deputies found a letter written by Crystal and addressed to her husband in the room where her body was found. In it, she wrote: “You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way the family should be. You need God.”

Judd said the tragedy hit close to home with deputies, particularly coming three days before Christmas.

“He absolutely destroyed a family,” Judd said. “Our homicide detectives are distraught. When you go in there, there is a beautiful Christmas tree with lots of Christmas presents under the tree, just like the nuclear family should be … and it ends up this way.”

Advertisement

The sheriff encouraged anyone in crisis to call 911 and ask for help. The national crisis hotline number is 988.

“How does an argument over a television program end up with a murder, an attempted murder and a suicide?” he said. “It should never happen. Call for help … Don’t hurt yourself, don’t hurt a loved one.”

Crystal Kenney’s 12-year-old son and the baby daughter she shared with Jason Kenney are now in the care of grandparents as Florida’s Department of Children and Families determines their long-term placement, Judd said.



Source link

Advertisement

Florida

South Florida officers sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, claiming details in ‘The Rip’ are too real

Published

on

South Florida officers sue Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, claiming details in ‘The Rip’ are too real


Entertainment

“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case.

FILE – Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attend the world premiere of “The Rip” at Alice Tully Hall, on Jan. 13, 2026, in New York. Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File

MIAMI (AP) — Two South Florida police officers claim Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s recent action thriller “The Rip” used too many real-life details in its fictionalized narrative, causing harm to the officers’ personal and professional reputations, according to a defamation lawsuit.

Jason Smith and Jonathan Santana, sergeants in the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, filed the lawsuit in Miami federal court earlier this month against Artists Equity, a film production company owned by Affleck and Damon. Court filings don’t say how much the officers are suing for, but the civil complaint says they’re seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees, as well as a public retraction and correction.

Advertisement

“The Rip” features Affleck and Damon as South Florida police officers who find millions of dollars inside a house. Parts of the movie were inspired by a real 2016 case, where police found over $21 million linked to a suspected marijuana trafficker in a Miami Lakes home.

An attorney for Artists Equity declined to comment when reached Monday by The Associated Press. But in a March 19 response to the plaintiffs’ demand letter, Leita Walker, an attorney for Artists Equity, wrote that the film does not purport to tell the true story of that incident or portray real people, which had been stated by a disclaimer in the film’s credits.

Although Smith and Santana aren’t named in the film, the lawsuit claims that Santana was serving as the lead detective assigned to the real case, and Smith was the sergeant who supervised the investigative team. The film’s inclusion of real details about the case gives the impression that the characters are based on the plaintiffs, the suit said.

And this, the lawsuit claims, has given friends, family members and colleagues the impression that the plaintiffs committed the criminal acts that appear in the film, which include (SPOILER ALERT) conspiring to steal seized drug money, murdering a supervising officer, communicating with cartel members, committing arson in a residential neighborhood, endangering the lives of civilians, repeatedly violating core law-enforcement protocols and executing a federal agent rather than making an arrest.

Walker wrote in March that the plaintiffs haven’t even identified which particular character is supposed to be based on Smith or Santana, so even if “The Rip” was actually about a real-life narcotics team, there’s no way to connect any of the characters to the plaintiffs.

Advertisement

“The Rip,” directed by Joe Carnahan, debuted in January on Netflix. It’s currently rated 78% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sign up for The Queue

Discover the best movies and TV shows streaming now, with handpicked recommendations from Boston.com.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Florida

South Florida and Miami news today

Published

on

South Florida and Miami news today


You’re watching the NBC6 South Florida News streaming channel, which plays local South Florida news 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can find the “NBC6 South Florida News” streaming channel on your phone or computer, and on Peacock, Samsung, Roku, Xumo or on our app, so you can watch our local news on your schedule.



Source link

Continue Reading

Florida

Palm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding

Published

on

Palm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding


play

Advertisement
  • A Florida couple, both with prior health issues, welcomed miracle twin boys nine weeks prematurely.
  • The couple’s planned wedding was interrupted by the early birth of their sons, Joshua and Rhett.

Ben and Danielle Cassidy were told they likely wouldn’t be able to have children.

But this year they will celebrate Mother’s Day just months after having an impromptu wedding in the AdventHealth for Children hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit shortly after Danielle gave birth to twins prematurely — a week before the Palm Bay couple was scheduled to get married.

Both babies, Joshua and Rhett, are doing well despite arriving nine weeks ahead of schedule on Jan. 19, 2026, just one day after their scheduled baby shower. With a proper wedding out of the question with two premature babies in the NICU, a nurse took action.

Issabel Kenkel, the nurse behind the ceremony, said she was already in wedding planning mode for her own upcoming nuptials when she found out the Cassidy family’s ceremony would be interrupted.

“I couldn’t just let them do something small. They needed decorations and something fun, so I spoke to the music therapist and the chaplain,” Kenkel said. In short order, a wedding was being planned for their hospital room and the couple was saying their vows in the company of their safely delivered newborns.

Advertisement

“When we found out we could request staff members to be on our team, that’s when we requested Issabel and having that kind of consistency from someone who has such a big heart and is so kind,” Danielle said.

The hospital ceremony was all the more special because of the Cassidy family’s own health struggles.

“I have five autoimmune diseases and didn’t really think I would have kids. It’s been a rough journey. When Ben and I met, we were floored at how much a miracle it was to have kids,” Danielle said.

Ben, who battled and beat cancer, said he was worried that his prior treatment would result in negative health outcomes for his future children. Having twins for him was an unexpected blessing.

Advertisement

“When we found out we were pregnant, we found it so shocking. We said, wouldn’t it be great if it was twins? It filled out our hopes and dreams list,” Ben said. “They’ve been miracles for sure.”

The Cassidy couple said there was so much fear and uncertainty when their twins were born nine weeks early. Being able to get married right away just made them feel all the better about the future.

“It was nice getting married because we didn’t have to wait any longer to make it official. It made it that much harder for her to get rid of me,” Ben said.

“The unknown made it scary,” Danielle added. “We had no idea how long we would be in the hospital. Our wedding was going to be at the beach with immediate family and parents. Having NICU babies, we realized we’d never be able to get to the beach. It was really special having the people who care for our babies be part of the ceremony.”

The couple hadn’t even planned to have a band at their wedding ceremony and now the hospital’s music therapist was performing live for them and the chaplain was conducting the ceremony, something nurse Kenkel said was just part of her job.

Advertisement

“The babies are going to have the best outcomes if the families are taken care of and going home happy,” she said. “Being in the NICU is already so stressful. This is just one more thing I could do to take care of my patients.”

Tyler Vazquez is the Growth and Development Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-480-0854 or tvazquez@floridatoday.com. X: @tyler_vazquez.



Source link

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending