DETECTIVES have opened up about the gruesome crime scene left in a Tennessee home where the girlfriend of an ex-NFL star was violently murdered.

Deputies say there was blood spattered on nearly every wall in the house after former New York Jets linebacker Darron Lee allegedly beat Gabriella Carvalho Perpétuo to death on February 5.

Mugshot of a young man with short dark hair and a light beard, wearing a white hooded garment.
Former NFL player Darron Lee is accused of violently murdering his girlfriendCredit: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office
 

A smiling woman looking at the camera, with a dessert plate that says "Happy Birthday" in chocolate.
Gabriella Carvalho Perpétuo was beaten to deathCredit: GoFundMe
 

Kansas City Chiefs player Anthony Hitchens wearing jersey #50 with eye black on the field.
Lee was a linebacker in the NFL from 2016 to 2021Credit: Getty Images
In a bond hearing on Wednesday, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Detective Brian Lockhart opened up about the horrific state of the home in Ooltewah, which is two and a half hours southeast of Nashville.

He told the court that blood was in every room, including the car in the garage, and there were alcohol bottles strewn around the ground.

“There was blood going up the staircase on the hand rail,” Lockhart said, according to ABC affiliate WSYX.

“There was blood on the walls. There was blood on the floor in the living room. There was blood in the hallway upstairs.

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“There was blood in just about every room.”

Lockhart said the couple appeared to be moving in to the property, but stressed everything was still in a terrifying state of disarray. He said the microwave had been completely shattered.

When detectives looked closer using a special light, they found signs someone tried to clean up the scene, Lockhart testified.

“It lit up blue throughout the whole hallway,” he said.

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“You could see drag marks. You could see drag marks into the bathroom that was glowing blue.”

Perpétuo was found suffering from brutal injuries, and she was declared dead at the scene, cops say.

Lee was also inside the home when cops responded to a call, and he told cops that Perpétuo suffered from narcolepsy and probably just slipped in the shower, authorities say.

The former NFL player’s girlfriend had a broken neck, severe brain injuries, bruising across her body, stab wounds on her legs, and human bite marks on her shoulder and thigh, an autopsy found.

The medical examiner determined she died from blunt force trauma.

Hamilton County Sheriff Crime Scene Unit van outside a house with yellow police tape.
Perpétuo was found suffering from fatal injuries inside a home in Ooltewah, TennesseeCredit: WTVC
 

Crime scene investigators in white suits and gloves working outside a house with yellow crime scene tape.
A detective testified that blood was spattered on every room in the houseCredit: WTVC
 

A smiling woman with tattoos on her arm, wearing a white dress, squats on a sandy beach with the ocean in the background.
Her family started a GoFundMeCredit: GoFundMe

CRIMINAL HISTORY

Lee had a lengthy rap sheet, and didn’t tell his probation officer in Florida about his move to Tennessee, prosecutors said in court.

He was hit with a domestic violence charge in 2023 for allegedly beating his mom and the mother of his son in Ohio, according to records seen by NBC affiliate WRCB.

However, he accepted a plea deal in February 2025 and dodged a conviction.

In 2024, Lee was arrested in Florida for pointing a gun at a man, and later pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapons and battery in June 2025.

In 2017, the football player got into a screaming match with a woman at a music festival, and had to be restrained by a teammate.

Prosecutors brought up the incidents as they argued that Lee was too dangerous to be released.

The former NFL star denied bond and remains behind bars.

CASE CONTINUES

Prosecutors made it clear they would pursue the death penalty if Lee is found guilty of the crimes.

He’s been charged with first-degree murder.

Perpétuo’s family started a fundraiser to pay for court costs and travel for her parents, who live in Florida.

They said the victim was “loved by so many and loved those around her with her whole heart.”

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Lee, who is from Chattanooga, joined the Jets as an offensive linebacker after being picked in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft.

He went on to play for the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Las Vegas Raiders before retiring in 2021 following an injury.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15931597/darron-lee-former-nfl-player-girlfriend-killing-crime-scene/