By DAILY MAIL REPORTER and DANIEL BATES

PUBLISHED: 19:56 EST, 2 December 2012 

 

Friends now say Kansas City Chief Jovan Belcher’s mental state may have been deteriorated due to a history of head injuries, pain killers, and alcohol abuse.

A person claiming to be close to Belcher,25, has revealed in a series of e-mails that these issues as well as long-term domestic problems between himself and his girlfriend may have led Belcher to the murder-suicide he committed Saturday morning.

Belcher killed 22-year-old girlfriend and mother of his child Kasandra Perkins before driving to Arrowhead stadium and turning the gun on himself.

The couple’s orphaned 3-month-old daughter Zoey will now be raised by his mother in the Long Island home where he grew up.

 

In a series of e-mails to Deadspin, the friend said: ‘They have been arguing for quite sometime and had separated 2 weeks ago.’

The anonymous friend wrote: ‘He had brought her and the baby back home however, they were both arguing on a regular basis. Both of them are/were very young and immature and that combined with other factors led to this tragedy.’

The friend adds that many of their recent arguments focused on Perkins failing college classes Belcher paid for and quitting her retail job, as well as telling Belcher that she was leaving him and would find a lawyer to “get as much money as possible” from the football player.

And Belcher may have reacted to all this differently if he wasn’t messed up from booze, meds, and taking shots to the head on the field.

‘When it comes to prescription medication it is unclear from my perspective whether it was diagnosed and authorized by the team or not,’ the friend wrote. ‘However I know he was under the influence of narcotics for pain and I’m sure the toxicology report will reflect this. However, Jovan drank ALOT. On a nightly basis. This is not a mystery as he did so in public and private.

‘When it comes to his concussions; if you review the footage of the Cincinnati game he took a few hits to the head directly […] he was dazed and was suffering from short term memory loss. He could not remember the events that had taken place prior to that game or what he had said to get Kasi to return home.’

Mail Online recently revealed that the NFL star was a member of a group which campaigns against violence towards women.

Jovan Belcher – who was raised by his own mother – was part of Male Athletes Against Violence and had pledged to develop deep-held beliefs against attacking females.

Among the promises he would have made is one to ‘look honestly at my actions in regard to violence and make changes if necessary’.

Belcher would also have taken part in the White Ribbon campaign – those taking part vow to ‘never to commit, condone nor remain silent about violence against women’. Read More…