WHEN FOOTBALL IS KING

Slain mom-of-three 'died a hero' saving her children after husband snapped over NFL game and unleashed deadly home rampage

 

By Anna Wright 

 

Daily Mail

Jan 11, 2026

 

 

 

Crystal Roure was fatally shot by her husband and died protecting her three children 

 

A Florida mother was gunned down by her husband after he went berserk over an NFL game and shot his stepdaughter in the face.

Crystal Roure died protecting her three children after a dispute with her husband, Jason Kenney, that began when she asked him to turn off a football game.

Kenney shot his 13-year-old stepdaughter, severely injuring her, and murdered his wife during the mayhem just three days before Christmas.

As the argument escalated, Crystal feared for her children’s safety and told her 12-year-old son to run to a neighbor’s house and call 911, according to Polk County Sheriff's Office.

As the 12-year-old boy ran outside, he heard gunshots, and police later found Crystal dead in the home along with her severely injured stepdaughter.

Their one-year-old daughter was also discovered unharmed, while Kenney was nowhere to be found.

The teen girl miraculously survived the attack, with the bullet striking the bridge of her nose and ricocheting through the top of her head, USA Today reported. 

'She said, "I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, and he shot me anyway,"' Sheriff Grady Judd said during a press conference. 

Kenney fled the scene to his late father's home, before calling his sister to tell her he did 'something very bad,' and later turned the gun on himself. 

 

Jason Kenney, 47, shot his wife and step-daughter on the evening of December 22 after an argument over control of the television escalated

The shooting took place just a few days before Christmas

 

One family member said Kenney was abusive and has 'beat on Crystal for a while,' but the sheriff's office said there have been no records of domestic violence between the two.

The couple had been married for two years, and the husband had no prior criminal history, according to Judd. 

'He absolutely destroyed a family,' Judd said during the conference.

'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.'

Officers found a note Crystal wrote to Kenney during the search of their home.

The mother-of-three begged her husband to get help, with the note saying, 'You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. 

'This is not the way the family should be. You need God,' the note read, per Judd. 

 

The two had been married for just two years before the horror unfolded

Crystal's three remaining children are now in custody with their grandparents

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the interior of the home as having 'a beautiful Christmas tree with lots of Christmas presents under it, just like the nuclear family should be'

Sheriff Judd speaking at the press conference holding a picture of Kenney

 

The three children are currently in their grandparents’ custody, and the family is coping with the horrific murder, having created a GoFundMe page for support. 

'With heavy hearts, we share the heartbreaking loss of Crystal, a loving and devoted mother whose life was stolen far too soon,' the page read.

'What has happened to this beautiful family is a tragedy and it is unimaginable. We cannot wrap our hearts and minds around it.'