In a heartbreaking incident, a Florida mother is being hailed as a hero for her courageous actions in shielding her children during a tragic domestic confrontation. Crystal Roure, a 38-year-old, lost her life at the hands of her husband, Jason Kenney, in a devastating episode that unfolded amid the backdrop of an NFL game.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported that on the night of December 22, 2025, Kenney, aged 47, fatally shot Roure before taking his own life. The tragic event occurred just days before Christmas, casting a somber shadow over the holiday season for their family and community.
According to authorities, the incident began when Kenney, who had been drinking, moved from his shed to their home in Highland City to continue watching a Monday Night Football game around 11 p.m. Upon entering the house, a dispute erupted between him and Roure when she expressed her unwillingness to watch football, leading to a heated argument.
In a desperate attempt to protect her family, Roure instructed her 12-year-old son to flee to a neighbor’s house and call for help. As he escaped, a gunshot echoed through the night, marking the tragic culmination of the domestic clash.
This tragedy highlights the severe consequences of domestic violence and the brave actions some individuals take to protect their loved ones, even at the cost of their own lives. Crystal Roure’s selfless act will be remembered by her community as a testament to her courage and devotion to her family.
As the altercation escalated, Roure yelled for her 12-year-old son to run to a nearby neighbor’s house and call 911, and he heard a single gunshot as he was fleeing the home.
Responding deputies subsequently found Roure dead in the family’s living room with a gunshot wound to her head, and her 13-year-old daughter suffering from two gunshot wounds while in her bed. The couple’s 1-year-old child was also found asleep in her crib, unharmed.
The teen survived the shooting after the bullet struck her nose and ricocheted through the top of her head, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a news conference.
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. (Facebook/Jason Kenney)
“She said, ‘I begged him, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me. And he shot me anyway,’” Judd said, referring to Kenney’s teen stepdaughter.
Authorities also discovered an undated letter Roure wrote to Kenney, telling him: “You’re drinking, you’re using cocaine again. This is not the way a family should be. You need God.”
Immediately following the shooting of his wife and stepdaughter, police say Kenney fled the area in his truck and called his sister to tell her he “had done something really bad and he was not going to jail.” Kenney reportedly added that she would “see it on the news,” before driving to his deceased father’s home in Lake Wales and entering a shed on the property.
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. (Facebook/Jason Kenney)
When officers arrived and began yelling for Kenney to come outside, they heard a single gunshot and ultimately found him deceased from an apparent self-inflicted wound to the head.
“He absolutely destroyed a family,” Judd said. “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.”
Judd revealed that relatives of the family told investigators that Kenney had been abusing his wife “for a while,” despite the sheriff’s office having no records of any domestic violence calls regarding the couple. Additionally, Kenney had no criminal history, Judd added.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
“After they were married, I know she said he was drinking a lot more but she said that he was going to stop and said he would get help with it. Obviously that didn’t happen,” Roure’s sister, Stephanie Roure, told USA Today.
“My sister died a hero for protecting her children and getting my nephew out of the house to make the 911 call,” Stephanie Roure reportedly said. “She did that. She saved their lives and by doing so my nephew saved his sister’s life, and thank God the baby was untouched.”
