Late Dallas Cowboys player Marshawn Kneeland’s girlfriend, Catalina Mancera, is pregnant.
On Wednesday, head Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer revealed the news at a press conference after the death of the 24-year-old defensive end from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound last week.
“We want to make sure she’s taken care of and the baby is taken care of for the rest of their lives,” Schottenheimer told reporters.
He added that the Cowboys had set up the Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund to provide financial support for Mancera and her baby.
“The Marshawn Kneeland Memorial Fund is dedicated to preserving Marshawn’s legacy and extending his impact through direct support for his surviving partner and unborn heir,” according to the website for the fundraiser.
News of Mancera’s pregnancy roughly comes a week after the Cowboys released a statement announcing Kneeland’s death.
“It is with extreme sadness that the Dallas Cowboys share that Marshawn Kneeland tragically passed away this morning,” the team said in a statement last Thursday. “Marshawn was a beloved teammate and member of our organization. Our thoughts and prayers regarding Marshawn are with his girlfriend Catalina and his family.”
On Monday, Mancera shared a tribute to Kneeland on Facebook, writing, “My sweet baby, words could never express how broken I feel, you’re my everything. I’ll love you forever my beautiful angel.”
The NFL player died just three days after the Cowboys’ Monday Night Football game with the Arizona Cardinals.
At around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 5, Kneeland led troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety on a chase through Frisco when he refused to pull over for a traffic violation. A little while later, after DPS officers lost sight of his vehicle, Frisco police found his car crashed and abandoned on a southbound lane of the Dallas Parkway.
With the help of police dogs and drones, Kneeland was eventually located in the area at around 1:30 a.m., dead “from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” cops said.
The Frisco Police Department reported that during the course of their search, “officers received information that Kneeland had expressed suicidal ideations.”
Just hours before he died, Mancera tried to warn the police that Kneeland might hurt himself. In 911 audio obtained by People, a dispatcher can be heard saying, “We’re talking to the girlfriend. She’s trying to call his agent, but we’re trying to get her to call him first, but she’s saying he is armed and has a history of mental illness and her quote was, ‘He will end it all.’”
The dispatcher also said that Kneeland’s family was “concerned for his welfare” after they received “a group text from him saying goodbye.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, or just needs to talk, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
