On Friday evening, both Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkins went out in the Power & Light District, Kansas City's entertainment and nightlife hub—though they weren't out with each other. Perkins attended the Trey Songz concert at the Midland Theatre that began at 8 p.m., then got drinks with friends.
At the same time, Belcher was out for dinner and drinks with a woman named Brittni Glass. Glass works retail at an Armani Exchange store in Kansas City, and Belcher would later describe her to police as his girlfriend, though after the shooting Glass denied that the two were in a relationship. Her neighbors had seen his car parked outside her apartment complex several times over the preceding months.
Sometime Friday night, though it's not clear if it was before Belcher went out for the evening or during, Belcher exchanged text messages with Reggie Paramoure, a former college teammate. Belcher called Perkins "crazy," and joked about the eight guns in his house.
"I see yall boys aint doing too well," Paramoure wrote, referring to the Chiefs' 1-10 start. "Wats goen on wit u besides ball."
"Yea man," Belcher replied, "our 'o' can't even put 7 in the board for us, but everything good bro, baby momma crazy but I have a little girl almost 3 month man and she's a blessing, she makes me smile on the worst day."
"Daughter!" Paramoure wrote, and then jokingly suggested that Belcher better have a gun ready to ward off future boyfriends. "Yea man," Belcher responded, "I got about 8 guns now, from hand Gunz to assault rifles for her little bf's."
Around 1 a.m., Perkins returned to the couple's home at 5401 Crysler Ave., in the suburban Fairway Hills neighborhood. The two argued about her staying out late, according to a friend whom Perkins later called. Since Belcher would spend the night at another apartment, either he came home briefly to argue with Perkins, or it occurred over the phone.
Belcher had driven Brittni Glass to her apartment on the 700 block of E. Armour Blvd, but the two somehow became separated—neighbors saw Belcher sleeping in his black Bentley in her parking lot, with the car's lights still on. At 2:47 a.m., someone called police to report a suspicious car, and at 3:07 a.m. they knocked on Belcher's window to wake him up.
Belcher told police he was waiting for his "girlfriend," but she was not home. They asked him to call her to verify this, and Belcher made a call from his cell phone. At 3:19 a.m., Belcher entered the apartment building—though it appears Glass was not the one who let him in. One resident had been outside smoking a cigarette, and let Belcher in because "they knew him and knew it was OK to let him inside."
Police then left, noting that while Belcher may have had some drinks, he was cooperative and did not appear inebriated. Belcher spent the night on a woman's couch, though it's not clear if it was in the same apartment as Glass.
The woman said that Glass was asleep at the time, and she allowed Belcher to stay because he was intoxicated. He asked her to wake him up at 6:30 a.m., because he had a team meeting—
"I'll get fined if I don't make it,"
he told her.
The team meeting was scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
Belcher woke up and made the 10-mile drive back to his home, arriving around 7 a.m. He and Perkins argued loudly—over what precisely may never be known, but Belcher's mother Cheryl Shepherd, who was staying with the couple, said she heard Belcher yell,
"You can't talk to me like that!"
She then heard gunshots.
Belcher shot Perkins nine times with a handgun he had purchased legally more than a year earlier.
Shepherd entered the bedroom to find Belcher kneeling over Perkins, telling her he was sorry, and kissing her on the forehead. He then apologized to his mother, kissed his three-month-old daughter, Zoey, grabbed a separate handgun, and left the house, driving away in his Bentley.
At 7:52 a.m. Shepherd called 911. Here's audio of the call:
Police arrived just before 8 a.m., and the ambulance arrived five minutes later. Perkins would later be pronounced dead at the hospital.
Belcher had driven the five miles to Chiefs' practice facility, near Arrowhead Stadium. At 8:01 a.m., someone called 911 to report a person with a gun in the parking lot. Belcher had seen general manager Scott Pioli, and stepped out of his car with a gun pointed at his own head.
"I did it,"
Belcher told Pioli.
"I killed her."
Pioli tried to get Belcher to put down the gun, telling another team employee to stay back. Belcher asked Pioli if he and Clark Hunt would look after his daughter and said:
"I came here to tell you thank you. Thank you for my chance. I love you, bro.''
Belcher asked if he could talk to head coach Romeo Crennel and linebacker coach Gary Gibbs. Pioli called Crennel from his cell phone, and the two soon came outside. All three tried to calm Belcher, but he told them,
"Guys, I have to do this."
At 8:08 a.m. a police dispatcher noted that the practice facility was locked down. Belcher heard approaching sirens and told Pioli, Crennel, and Gibbs,
"I got to go. I can't be here."
At 8:11 a.m. an officer on the scene reported that the
"suspect has a gun to his head and is down on his knees."
Belcher crossed himself, and fired one shot into his temple.
"Shots fired,"
the police dispatcher radioed.
"Party down."
He was loaded into an ambulance 14 minutes later.
At 8:52 a.m., a doctor at the hospital declared Jovan Belcher dead.
Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkin's 3 month old daughter, Zoey, is now in the custody of Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd.
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