Jovan Belcher's mother pleads with police to send an ambulance while Kasandra Perkins lies dying of gunshot wounds on the floor and the cries of her 3-month-old daughter are heard in the background, according to a 911 audiotape of the shooting's aftermath.
The tapes, released Tuesday night as police wrapped up their investigation, portray a chaotic scene inside the upscale Independence, Mo., home moments after the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and former West Babylon High School star shot and killed Perkins, 22, his girlfriend and the mother of his baby. He then drove to the team's practice facility, where he killed himself.
Sgt. Marisa Barnes said Wednesday the investigation has been completed but police are awaiting results of toxicology reports before discussing motive or presenting the case to prosecutors.
Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd, 54, did not want to discuss the shooting Wednesday or the frantic phone call she made to an emergency dispatcher.
"I don't appreciate it," she told The Associated Press when asked about the release of the recordings. She told AP that she had a "beautiful relationship" with Perkins.
In the tape, Shepherd alternately begged for medical help from emergency responders and attempted to comfort a dying Perkins, the tapes show. Belcher, meanwhile, was driving his black Bentley to the Kansas City Chiefs' training facility, about 5 miles away.
The couple's relationship had sputtered in recent months, friends have said. Shepherd was staying with the couple to help care for their daughter, Zoey. She now has temporary custody of the child.
Under terms of the NFL's collective-bargaining agreement, the infant will receive more than $1 million, AP said.
In the 911 call, the baby is heard crying as Shepherd begs the operator to send help. She consoles Perkins, whom she refers to as Kasi, called "Cassie" and "Casandra" in the transcripts.
"Please get the ambulance here, please. Oh my God," Shepherd shouts into the phone. "Oh my God, Cassie. She's shot!"
"Your son did this?" the dispatcher asks.
Perkins can be heard faintly saying "He shot me."
Shepherd seems to realize Perkins was slipping away, saying, "She's still breathing, but please hurry. I don't know how much time she's got. . . . Casandra stay with me! The ambulance is on its way. You hear me? You hear me? Casandra? Stay with me!"
"Is she awake?" the dispatcher asked.
"Barely," Shepherd says, her voice cracking. "She's moving when I talk to her. Please God. Please just get the ambulance here."
The dispatcher asks about Belcher: "Where's your son?"
"He left," Shepherd says.
"OK," the dispatcher asks. "They were arguing and he shot her?"
"Yes," Shepherd says. "There were arguing."
The night before the shooting, Perkins attended a concert, while Belcher was seen drinking with another woman at several bars.
Wednesday, friends and family attended a memorial service for Belcher at the Landmark International Deliverance and Worship Center in Kansas City. Funeral arrangements had not been completed.
Shepherd said she has been working on arrangements for her son, but hasn't been sleeping or eating much since the shootings. She said her granddaughter is doing "fine."
Copyright 2012 - Newsday
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
