Belcher died on December 1, 2012, in a murder-suicide, killing his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, before driving to the Chiefs' training facility and shooting himself in the head with a handgun.

[2] He was a three-time All-American as a wrestler, and played as a linebacker, offensive tackle, nose guard, and fullback on the football team.

[1] The team had its first-ever undefeated regular season in 2004, when Belcher was a senior, but lost in the Suffolk County Championship game.

[4] Though he had an accomplished high school career, was a second-team All-Long Island selection in 2004, and was named to Newsday's list of the best players of the decade for the 2000s, Belcher was not heavily recruited by major college football programs.

[5] Belcher attended the University of Maine, a Division I FCS school, and played on its Black Bears football team.

[8] Belcher, a strong student in high school and college, graduated from Maine with a degree in child development and family relations.

[15] Kansas City lost 30–7 to the Baltimore Ravens in the wild card round; Belcher had one and a half sacks and nine tackles in the game.

[13] Kansas City finished last in the AFC West with a 7–9 record, and head coach Todd Haley was replaced by defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel with three games remaining in the season.

[18][19] Belcher was involved in community activities in Kansas City in 2011, visiting a nearby military base and a local elementary school to promote an NFL program for children.

[2] By late 2012, Belcher was living with his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, and their three-month-old baby, Zoey, at 5401 Crysler Avenue in Kansas City.

[23][24] Friends stated that the couple argued frequently, including after Perkins returned home at 1:00 A.M. from a Trey Songz concert at the Midland Theatre on the night of November 30, 2012.

After the argument, Perkins went to the Power and Light District, an entertainment area by the Midland and T-Mobile Center in downtown Kansas City.

[20][21][26] The police arrived at the house at around 7:50 A.M., following a call from Shepherd, who had recently moved there from West Babylon, New York, to help the couple care for Zoey.

[31][32][33] After murdering Perkins, Belcher drove his 2007 Bentley Continental GT about five miles to a parking lot at the Chiefs' practice facility next to Arrowhead Stadium.

[34] A photograph from the scene showed Perkins's blood smeared over the chrome gearshift of Belcher's vehicle, as well as broken glass on the dashboard.

[35] On January 14, 2013, the Jackson County Medical Examiner's office released autopsy reports, showing that Belcher had a blood alcohol content of 0.170 mg/dL in his system, more than double the legal driving limit in Missouri.

[45] In December 2013, his body was exhumed from the North Babylon cemetery at the request of his family to conduct tests on whether he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

[46] On December 31, 2013, Belcher's mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Missouri state court against her son's former team, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Defendant micromanaged virtually every aspect of Decedent's life when it came to his physical abilities to perform in the workplace, including analyzing his diet, speed, strength and body-mass index.