A 13-year-old Florida girl who survived a horrific murder-suicide attempt is speaking publicly for the first time from her hospital bed, weeks after watching her stepfather kill her mother and then shoot her in the face.
The incident occurred on December 22 inside the family’s home. According to the teenager, whose identity is being withheld, the violence began with a seemingly minor argument between her mother, Crystal Kenney, and her stepfather, Jason Kenney. The couple disagreed over what to watch on television.
In an interview with Inside Edition, the teen recalled that her mother wanted to continue watching an episode of Percy Jackson, while Jason wanted to watch football. Earlier that evening, Jason had been watching the San Francisco 49ers game alone in a shed on the property. He later came inside to watch the final quarter, which is when the argument escalated.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said the situation quickly turned dangerous. As tensions rose, Crystal instructed her 12-year-old son to run to a neighbor’s home and call for help. The boy escaped safely, but the 13-year-old girl remained inside the house.
Moments later, she witnessed her stepfather shoot and kill her mother.
After firing the fatal shots, Jason Kenney turned the gun on his stepdaughter. The teen told Inside Edition that she begged him to spare her life.
“I begged him, ‘Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me,’” she said.
Despite her pleas, he fired. She was shot first in the shoulder and then in the face. Remarkably, she survived.
Sheriff Judd later explained that the bullet entered at the bridge of her nose, traveled upward, and exited through the top of her head without killing her.
“That’s a Christmas miracle,” Judd said.
Inside the same bedroom during the attack were the couple’s infant child, who was unharmed, and the teen’s younger brother, who had already escaped to get help.
After the shooting, Jason Kenney fled the scene in his vehicle and drove to his late father’s property. There, he barricaded himself inside a shed. As law enforcement officers surrounded the area, Kenney took his own life.
Sheriff Judd also revealed that while on the run, Jason contacted his sister and confessed to what he had done, telling her he had committed “something very, very bad” and that “the next time you see me will be on the news.”
The 13-year-old survivor is now recovering in the hospital and is described as making remarkable progress given the severity of her injuries. She, her younger brother, and the infant sibling are now living with their maternal grandmother.
To help support the children, a GoFundMe campaign has been established to cover medical care and future expenses.