A Florida family is reeling after a late-night attack in Polk County left a mother dead and her 13-year-old daughter critically injured but alive, authorities said.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said deputies received a 911 call just before midnight on Dec. 22. Investigators say 47-year-old Jason Kenney shot his wife, Crystal Kenney, inside the couple's home. Deputies arrived within minutes and found Crystal fatally shot.
Jason Kenney/FacebookJason and Crystal Kenney with Crystal's two children
Inside a bedroom, officers discovered the couple's 13-year-old daughter had been shot twice—once in the shoulder and once in the face. Sheriff Judd said the teenager told him she begged her stepfather not to kill her, and that he shot her nonetheless. He described the wound as having entered at the bridge of the nose and exited out the top of her head.
"We later learned the bullet in the face hit her on the bridge of the nose, went straight up, and out the top of her head," Judd said, calling her survival "a Christmas miracle." The girl is in critical but stable condition and is alert and speaking, the sheriff said.
Jason Kenney/FacebookJason and Crystal Kenney
As the argument escalated in the home, Crystal told her 12-year-old son to run to a neighbor's house and call 911. The child left the home and, as he fled, heard a gunshot. Deputies found an infant daughter in the house who was uninjured.
After the shooting, investigators say Jason Kenney fled the scene and drove to the property of his recently deceased father, where he barricaded himself in a shed. During that drive he called his sister and reportedly said he had done "something very, very bad" and warned, "the next time you see me will be on the news." Deputies surrounded the shed and a single gunshot was later heard inside; Kenney was pronounced dead at the scene.
All three children are now in the care of their maternal grandparents while investigators continue processing the case, the sheriff's office said.
What Officials Have Said
"She is alert and talking," Sheriff Grady Judd said of the 13-year-old. "That's a Christmas miracle."
The sheriff's office continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the shooting. Detectives are coordinating with the medical team caring for the teen and with family members to ensure the children's safety and support.
