Jovan Belcher’s mother is suing the Kansas City Chiefs for 15,000 dollars for her son’s death
The mother of former Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the team Tuesday after exhuming his body so that his brain could be examined for evidence of a degenerative condition linked to repeated concussions.
The lawsuit, filed by Cheryl Shepherd in Jackson County (Mo.) circuit court, alleges Belcher was subjected to “repetitive head trauma,” and that the Chiefs failed to provide adequate medical care before Belcher killed his girlfriend and then committed suicide last December.
Shepherd is seeking a jury trial and $15,000 in damages.
Shepherd’s lawsuit claims the Chiefs failed to warn her son of the short-term and long-term risks of concussions; failed to identify and remove Belcher from practice or games after sustaining head trauma; failed to educate Belcher about concussions; failed to monitor or treat Belcher for neurological dysfunction; and failed to provide appropriate counseling.
According to the lawsuit, Belcher was knocked unconscious during a game against Jacksonville in 2009 but did not receive adequate treatment before returning to team activities.
On Dec. 1, 2012, Belcher shot to death his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, while Shepherd was caring for his infant daughter in a nearby room. Belcher then sped from the residence to the Chiefs training facility, where he shot himself in the head in the parking lot.
I honestly feel that 15,000 dollars is nothing, I don’t know how she came up with that number unless she is just trying to recover the fees to exhume her son’s body to perform tests. That could be the case, but it doesn’t sound like she will get much gripe from the Chiefs.
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