Florida Mother Shot Dead While Shielding Children After Argument Over NFL Game, Police Say

A Florida mother is being remembered as a hero after she was shot protecting her children during an argument with her husband over an NFL game, authorities said.

Polk County officials identified the shooter as 47-year-old Jason Kenney and the victim as 38-year-old Crystal Roure. According to the sheriff’s office, Kenney fatally shot Roure on the evening of Dec. 22, 2025, then later died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound three days before Christmas.

Crystal Roure was killed by her husband, Jason Kenney, after the couple began fighting over watching an NFL game inside their home in Highland City, Florida on Dec. 22, 2025, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Sequence Of Events

Police say Kenney had been drinking while watching Monday Night Football in a shed on the family’s Highland City property. He came into the house around 11 p.m. to watch the end of the game and an argument began after Roure told him she did not want to continue watching football.

As the altercation escalated, Roure told her 12-year-old son to run to a neighbor's house and call 911. The child heard a single gunshot while fleeing, authorities said.

Jason Kenney reportedly called his sister after shooting his wife, Crystal Roure, and 13-year-old stepdaughter to tell her he had "done something really bad and he was not going to jail," according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies who responded found Roure dead in the family living room from a gunshot wound to the head. The couple’s 13-year-old daughter was located in bed with two gunshot wounds but survived after a bullet struck her nose and then ricocheted through the top of her head, Sheriff Grady Judd said. The couple’s 1-year-old was found asleep and unharmed in her crib.

"She said, 'I begged him, don't shoot me, don't shoot me, don't shoot me. And he shot me anyway,'"

Authorities recovered an undated letter Roure had written to Kenney that read in part: "You're drinking, you're using cocaine again. This is not the way a family should be. You need God." After the shooting, Kenney fled the scene, called his sister and said he "had done something really bad and he was not going to jail," and that she would "see it on the news," investigators said.

Crystal Roure was shot and killed by her husband, Jason Kenney, inside the family’s home in Highland City, Florida on Dec. 22, 2025, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Kenney drove to his deceased father’s home in Lake Wales and went into a shed on that property. When officers arrived and called for him to come out, they heard a single gunshot and later found him dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound.

Background And Response

Sheriff Judd said relatives told investigators Kenney had been abusing Roure "for a while," although the sheriff’s office had no prior domestic violence calls on the couple and Kenney had no criminal history. "He absolutely destroyed a family," Judd said, noting the family’s Christmas tree and presents that remained in the home.

Roure’s sister, Stephanie Roure, told USA Today that Kenney began drinking more after the couple married and had promised to stop and get help — promises she said were not kept. Stephanie called her sister a hero for getting her son out of the home and helping to save the surviving daughter.

If you or someone you know is in danger from domestic violence, call local emergency services immediately. In the United States you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or visit thehotline.org for resources.