As authorities continue to piece together what happened in the apparent murder-suicide of Kansas City Chief's linebacker Javon Belcher and his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, a troubled, confounding portrait of the couple is emerging.
Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend Perkins and then turned a gun on himself early the morning of Saturday, Dec. 1, committing suicide in front of his coach and general manager at Arrowhead Stadium, local police said.
Belcher reportedly got into a heated argument with Perkins at her Kansas City home around 7 a.m., The Kansas City Star reported. At about 7:50 a.m. Belcher shot Perkins multiple times, says the newspaper.
Police said afterwards, Belcher fled the scene, and drove to the Chiefs' practice facility near Arrowhead Stadium. Belcher reportedly thanked general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel before fatally shooting himself in the parking lot outside the team's practice facility, police spokesman Darin Snapp said.
Police say there is currently no known motive, although did mention that the couple had been arguing a lot lately. The 25-year-old professional football player, and Perkins leave behind a three-month-old daughter, Zoey.
Some recent statements by one of Perkins' friends seem to bear out that information.
Belcher and his girlfriend had lived apart briefly earler in 2012, but had gotten back together by Thanksgiving, according to a friend of 22-year-old Perkins, Brianne York, reported the Huffington Post.
The 21-year-old York says the couple fought occasionally about "normal couple stuff" but that her friend was "really happy about being a mom." She says she was in total disbelief when she learned the news of her friend's murder.
"It doesn't seem that that would be the end of their story," York said. "It just seems like if things didn't work out, they would have gone their separate ways. I would never have thought that this would be how it ended."
York said Perkins had gone to visit her family in Texas sometime after Halloween. Perkins had also briefly stayed with her cousin, who is married to Chiefs player Jamaal Charles. Belcher and Perkins met through Charles, York said.
York said the root of their arguments was that Belcher, "sometimes he would just be down in his man cave or whatever," and Perkins wanted to spend more time together as a family.
"They ended up wanting to try to work it out," York said, "and the next time I went over and visited she told me everything was good and things were better, so I thought everything was fine."
Kansas City police spokesman Snapp reiterated Sunday that the couple had argued recently, but he could provide no additional details.
After having the baby, Perkins was taking the fall semester off school. York said Perkins planned to return in January and wanted to become a teacher.
"They just seemed really happy around each other, and I just don't understand where things went wrong," York said.
York said the only other stress Perkins mentioned was whether Belcher would stay with the Chiefs.
"She was a really good person to be around and a lot of fun," York said. "She was somebody you could call when you were down and she would talk you through it. She would lift you back up and make you feel happy again if you were sad or upset."
Meanwhile, advocates for and against gun control continue to stir up the national debate. After sportcaster Bob Costas recently used the tragedy as a jumping off point to support stricter gun control, NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre gave an interview saying Perkins would still be alive if she'd had a gun.
"The one thing missing in that equation is that woman owning a gun so she could have saved her life from that murderer," LaPierre told USA Today Sports.
He refuted Costas' remarks regarding an accepted culture of violence and firearms in the NFL.
"There is no gun culture in the NFL. You've got good Americans who love to play sports, who are disciplined, who are responsible, and they're no different from any other Americans," he said.
Of course, a few facts make LaPierre's comments lose some of their rhetorical fire. As Deadspin reported, Perkins wasn't adverse to guns; in fact, the couple owned numerous guns, and was known to go to local shooting ranges together.
"Jovan Belcher and Kasandra Perkins kept 'about eight guns' in their house and liked to go shooting together, according to a new report from Sports Illustrated," reported Jack Dickey at Deadspin.
Even some NFL players are acknowledging the dangers of owning guns, giving away their firearms in the wake of the tragedy.
"At least seven NFL players have turned their guns into their respective team's security following the murder-suicide involving Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher earlier this month, Sports Illustrated's Peter King reported on 'Football Night in America' on Sunday," ESPN reports.
At least one player handed over multiple firearms, telling his team's personnel that he didn't trust himself with the guns, according to the report.
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