Last week, 24-year-old Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a police chase in Frisco, Texas. On Wednesday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer confirmed during a press conference that Kneeland’s girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, is pregnant with their first child.
“We want to make sure she’s taken care of, and the baby’s taken care of, for the rest of their lives,” Schottenheimer said. He announced that Kneeland’s family and management team had set up the Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund, which, according to the donation page, is “dedicated to preserving Marshawn’s legacy and extending his impact through direct support for his surviving partner and unborn heir.”
According to the Dallas Morning News, Kneeland and Mancera began dating during his sophomore year at Western Michigan University. She hasn’t spoken about the pregnancy, but she did talk to the Daily Mail outside of Kneeland’s Plano, Texas, apartment building on Monday.
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“I’m grieving hard right now. It will be a long time before I’ll feel ready to talk at any length,” she told the tabloid. “We’re still in the early stages of everything. We are working on the funeral arrangements. I don’t know where it’s going to be yet.”
On Monday, Mancera shared a tribute to Kneeland on Facebook. “My sweet baby, words could never express how broken I feel,” she wrote. “You’re my everything. I’ll love you forever my beautiful angel 🤍”
