Jovan Belcher, the professional NFL player who shot his girlfriend nine times before turning the gun on himself, may have committed the murder-suicide in a fit of rage over the possibility that their three-month old daughter may not have been his child.

Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd - who in her son's Missouri home when the first shooting occurred- told authorities that the couple argued over the paternity of their baby.

"The mother believed that there was an issue over whether [Belcher] was the father. She said he believed he wasn't necessarily the father of the child," a source close to the Kansas City Chief, the team Belcher played for, told the New York Post.

A source from Kansas City law-enforcement confirmed the allegation. "She told police there was a question about the paternity" of the child. "The implication was that paternity was what the two of them were fighting about - that the baby might not have been his."

A spokeswoman who answered Shepherd's phone when contacted by New York Post declined to comment on the reports.

The doubts about baby's paternity will not be a part of department's murder-suicide investigation, according to a Kansas City police spokeswoman.

"That would not be something they're going to investigate," Sgt Marisa Barnes said. "It's a "he-said, she-said" so there's no way to investigate. It would be nothing more than a civil matter."

Belcher fatally shot Kasandra Perkins, 22, nine times in the early morning on Dec. 1 after an argument.

According to the Kansas City Star, the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker leaned over Perkins' dead body, kissed her on the forehead and apologized seconds after he shot her. Shepherd heard the gunfire and ran to the master bedroom where the incident occurred and witnessed her son's sentimental farewell. Belcher then apologized to his mother, kissed his infant daughter, fled the home and drove to Arrowhead Stadium where he played profesional football.

When Belcher ran into Kanas City Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli in the stadium parking lot, he had a gun pointed at his own head and confessed he had just murdered his girlfriend. "I did it," Belcher told reportedly Pioli. "I killed her." Chiefs Head Coach Romeo Crennel and linebackers coach Gary Gibbs joined Belcher and Pioli and together the men were trying to convince him not to shoot himself. Belcher reportedly announced, "Guys, I have to do this."

When police sirens were heard, Belcher's last words were "I got to go, I can't be here" before shot himself in the head with a single bullet behind a vehicle.

Belcher's funeral was held near the Long Island home he grew up in on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

A memorial was held for Perkins in North Texas church on Dec. 6.

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