Jovan Belcher's Mother Files a Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against the Kansas City Chiefs

She wants the team held accountable.

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It's been more than a year now since former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shocked the country by murdering his girlfriend before killing himself outside of Arrowhead Stadium. But Belcher's family is still trying to come to terms with what happened. Recently, they had Belcher's body exhumed so that tests could be run to see if he was suffering from CTE, a degenerative brain disease, at the time of his death. And that's not all they're doing right now as it pertains to Belcher.

In addition to exhuming his body and investigating his brain, Belcher's family—specifically, his mother Cheryl Shepherd—also just filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Chiefs. Shepherd claims that Belcher was subjected to "repetitive head trauma" during his days in the NFL and that the Chiefs didn't do enough to provide medical care for the trauma that he suffered. So she is looking for "in excess of $15,000 for actual damages, punitive damages, and/or aggravating circumstances" from the Chiefs and is taking them to court to try and get it.

The Chiefs have not commented on the lawsuit yet. But this is likely to be a big story during the 2014 NFL offseason. If Belcher was suffering from CTE at the time of his death, it might help to explain some of his actions. But it could also end up costing the Chiefs a lot of money and force the NFL to once again take a closer look at how they handle players who suffer concussions and other forms of head trauma.

RELATED: R.I.P.: A History of Athletes Who Died During Their Prime

[via USA Today Sports]

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