PCSO Investigating Murder-Suicide Days Before Christmas in Polk County

47-year-old Jason Kenney / PCSO

By Staff Reporter

iSkyNews.com (ISC News) – Published December 29th, 2025

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PCSO Investigating Murder-Suicide Days Before Christmas in Polk County

LAKELAND, Fla. — The Polk County Sheriff's Office is investigating a heartbreaking murder-suicide that shattered a family just days before Christmas in the Highland City area of Lakeland.

Just before 11:00 p.m. on Monday, December 22, 2025, deputies were called to a home on Lemon Avenue after a frightened 12-year-old boy ran to a neighbor’s house begging for help. The child told the neighbor his stepfather and mother were fighting and that his mother told him to “call 911” as the argument escalated. As he ran from the house, the boy said he heard a single gunshot.

Investigators say 47-year-old Jason Kenney had been in a shed before coming inside the home to watch the end of an NFL football game. His wife reportedly told him she did not want to watch football, and the conversation quickly turned into an argument. Moments later, the gunshot rang out.

When deputies arrived, they found the woman deceased in the living room from a gunshot wound to the head. Her 13-year-old daughter was found in a bedroom suffering from two gunshot wounds. She was rushed to a local hospital and is listed in critical but stable condition. A one-year-old baby girl was found asleep in her crib and was not harmed.

After the shooting, Kenney fled the scene in his truck and called his sister, who lives out of state. According to investigators, he told her he had done “something really bad,” said he was not going to jail, and told her she would “see it on the news.”

Deputies later located Kenney at his deceased father’s home on 10th Street South in Lake Wales. When deputies ordered him to come out of a shed on the property, they heard a single gunshot. Deputies entered and found Kenney deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“This is horrific,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. “Three days before Christmas, this man shot and killed his wife, shot his stepdaughter, and then shot and killed himself. Destroying a family and the mental health of these children so close to Christmas is especially horrific. We will do everything we can to help this family get through this difficult time.”

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office says the investigation is ongoing.

Stay tuned to iSkyNews.com for the latest updates on this developing story.

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