KANSAS CITY, Mo. - An autopsy performed a year after Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his baby's mother and himself found the 25-year-old sustained the same kind of brain damage that has turned up in other NFL players.
Belcher, a former University of Maine player, fatally shot 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins on Dec. 1, 2012, in the couple's Kansas City home before driving to Arrowhead Stadium and killing himself in front of the team's general manager and head coach.
Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd, sued the team, claiming the Chiefs failed to care for her son after he was subjected to repetitive head trauma.
The autopsy found signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease found in athletes and others with a history of repetitive brain injuries. Attorneys for Shepherd and other plaintiffs suing the team released the findings.