Per the collective bargaining agreement millions of dollars are at stake, and a lawyer needs to be appointed to represent the interests of the minor child. Here is the article by Bill Draper of the AP.
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A Missouri
court will appoint a
lawyer to protect the interests of the 4-month-old
daughter of the late
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher as her
grandparents argue over custody.
Belcher fatally shot the child's
mother, Kasandra Perkins, on Dec. 1 in their
Kansas City home, then
drove to Arrowhead Stadium and killed himself in front of coaches and
the team's general manager. Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd, had been
living with the couple for about two weeks and was in the home when her
son killed Perkins.
Shepherd received temporary custody of
Belcher's daughter, Zoey, soon after the shootings and filed a petition
in mid-December asking to be appointed as Zoey's guardian and
conservator of her estate, which could be worth millions of dollars.
Shepherd, of West Babylon, N.Y., also filed a second petition seeking to be named administrator of her son's estate. Friday
morning, she sat silently between her two attorneys in a Jackson County
courtroom as probate commissioner Daniel Wheeler addressed the
petitions. Wheeler changed the status of the custody petition to
"contested" because Zoey's maternal grandparents and other family
members in Texas have filed a petition in that state to be Zoey's legal
guardians.
He also ordered the appointment of a guardian ad litem -
an attorney who represents the interests of minor children - and set a
Dec. 25 hearing on Shepherd's petition to take over her son's estate.
The Ford Worth Star-Telegram reported Friday that Zoey is staying with relatives in Austin, Texas.
In addition to the well-being of the child, millions of dollars are at stake in the custody battle. Zoey's
estate or guardian will receive more than $1 million under terms of the
NFL's collective bargaining agreement, including $108,000 annually over
the next four years, $48,000 in the fifth year and $52,000 each year
until she turns 18. She can keep receiving that amount until she is 23
if she attends college.
A trust funded by the Hunt family, which
owns the Chiefs, along with team coaches, players, employees and
contributions from the public, will help care for the child. Also,
Belcher's beneficiary will receive $600,000 in life insurance, plus
$200,000 for each credited season - Belcher was in his fourth season at
the time of his death - and $100,000 in a retirement account.
Shepherd's
attorney, Gretchen Gold, declined to answer questions after the hearing
and said her client didn't have any comments, either. Zoey's
maternal grandparents, Rebecca Anne Gonzalez and Darryl Perkins, and
other Texas relatives have filed a lawsuit seeking temporary custody of
the girl, that her residence be in Tarrant County, Texas, and that a
guardian ad litem be appointed.
A Fort Worth judge has scheduled a
Jan. 22 hearing in that lawsuit. The judge will conduct a conference
Jan. 17 with his Jackson County, Mo., counterpart and attorneys for
Zoey's maternal and paternal grandparents to discuss whether Texas or
Missouri has jurisdiction in the case.
Dennie Knight age 44, of Kansas City is lucky to be alive. On January 8, 2013 at approximately 10:14 in the morning a moving construction zone was in effect on Interstate 35 just north of 75th Street in Merriam, Kansas. Anthony McCormick, of Raymore Missouri, was driving a 2005 Sterling and failed to recognize the traffic slowing around the moving construction zone. At some point he made an evasive maneuver to avoid an accident. This maneuver caused his vehicle to slam into a 2011 Freightliner Dump Truck driven lawfully by Dennie Knight.
