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Sports

Attorneys release 7-month-old autopsy report showing Jovan Belcher had brain damage

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - This Dec. 19, 2010, file photo, shows Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher during an NFL football game in St. Louis. An autopsy released Monday, Sept. 25, 2014 by attorneys of Kansas City Belcher's family, that was performed a year after Belcher killed Kasandra Perkins and himself, found the 25-year-old sustained the same kind of brain damage that has turned up in other NFL players. Belcher fatally shot 22-year-old Perkins on Dec. 1, 2012, at their Kansas City home before driving to Arrowhead Stadium and killing himself in front of the team's general manager and head coach. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - This Dec. 6, 2012, file photo, of a funeral service pamphlet provided by the family of Kasandra Perkins shows Perkins holding her daughter Zoey. An autopsy released Monday, Sept. 25, 2014 by attorneys of Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher's family, that was performed a year after Belcher killed Perkins and himself, found the 25-year-old sustained the same kind of brain damage that has turned up in other NFL players. Belcher fatally shot 22-year-old Perkins on Dec. 1, 2012, at their Kansas City homebefore driving to Arrowhead Stadium and killing himself in front of the team's general manager and head coach. Zoey survived. (AP Photo/Courtesy Perkins Family, File) (The Associated Press)

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 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.

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