Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
One of the darkest chapters in Kansas CIty Chiefs history came to close yesterday as the daughter of former Chiefs linebacker, Jovan Belcher, was finally given a permanent home.
Belcher orphaned his infant daughter Zoey on December 1, 2012, when he shot and killed her mother, Kasandra Perkins, before driving to the Chiefs’ training facility and taking his own life, in front of then head coach Romeo Crennel and GM Scott Pioli.
Since then, the Perkins family and Belcher’s family, the Shepard’s, have been going through court proceedings in an effort to gain custody of Zoey.
Yesterday, the courts decided to award custody of Zoey her cousin, Sophie Perkins of Pflugerville, Texas.
You may remember around the time of the shooting that it was revealed that Kasandra Perkins was the cousin of Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles’ wife, Whitney Golden Charles. Well, Sophie Perkins is Whitney’s sister. If that is all a little confusing, in simple terms, Belcher’s daughter is now in the custody of Jamaal Charles’ sister-in-law.
It is a relief to see this unfortunate chapter comes to an end. While KC fans will surely move on, for little Zoey, the road forward will be difficult as she grows up and struggles to come to grips with the fact that her father murdered her mother.
Still, Zoey will hopefully find a loving home with Sophie Perkins. She will also be provided with significant financial support thanks to the terms of the new CBA and donations made by the Chiefs.