High school football coach charged in girlfriend’s killing once accused of striking wife

Spalding High School head football coach Carl Kearney Jr., facing murder charges in his girlfriend’s strangulation Saturday, was charged in a 2015 domestic violence incident involving his former wife, court records show.

Kearney is charged with first- and second-degree murder and two counts of assault in the Saturday death of Patrina Best, 38, in Maryland, police said. He is due in court Tuesday afternoon for a hearing, according to court records.

He was arrested and charged with battery and obstruction in April 2015 after his former wife was allegedly struck, according to Seminole County, Florida, court records. She did not want to prosecute or complete domestic violence paperwork so the charges were dropped the following month, records show. Their divorce was final in December 2021.

Kearney was hired as Spalding head coach in 2020 and took the team to the state playoffs the following year. He cheered on the school’s athletes, often celebrating their accomplishments in social media posts. He was heralded in December as Region 2 AAAA coach of the year.

His arrest on murder charges has left the the community reeling.

“Our community right now just is in shock,” a school system employee, who asked not to be identified, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ”He’s from here. He’s able to talk to the kids. They can talk to him.

“He had a lot of young coaches on his staff that he coached and had influenced them, so this is affecting a lot of people,” the employee said. “We’re in a sad place right now for both their families. It’s a bad day.”

Kearney, of Griffin, remains in custody. The Prince George’s County, Maryland Police Department said that on Saturday morning, Kearney walked into a police station to report he had assaulted the woman inside her home. Responding officers found Best unresponsive. She died at the scene in her Accokeek home.

“During an interview with homicide unit detectives, Kearney confessed to strangling the victim during an argument,” police said Sunday in a news release.

The incident occurred the day after Kearney’s birthday. He turned 43 on Friday.

Congratulations to head football coach Carl Kearney on a successful football season and postseason accolades! Region 2-AAAA Coach of the Year! @GriffinSpalding @GriffinDNews pic.twitter.com/LQzo9hQaTc
— Spalding High School (@SpaldingHigh) December 15, 2023

Best, a Georgia native, attended Georgia Southern University, where she was a member of the swimming team. She worked as a nurse, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Family and friends of Best shared their memories of her on social media.

“She was kind and thoughtful and all the things you could want from a sister,” a loved one posted in a Facebook tribute. “A true friend to all that knew her. And the lives she touched as a nurse are innumerable. I could go on and on about my incredible sister. She was taken from us far too soon and I will carry her with me for the rest of my life. Rest in peace my sweet, sweet sister.”

The Griffin-Spalding County school district did not respond to a request for a comment. School is out this week for winter break.

Georgia High School Association executive director Robin Hines, Georgia Athletic Coaches Association executive director Craig Davis and Minority Coaches Association of Georgia executive director Ahmand Tinker all declined to comment when contacted Monday.

A graduate of Griffin High, Kearney was a standout wide receiver at Georgia Southern. He played in NFL preseason games with the New York Jets in 2004 and 2005 but never made an active regular-season roster.

He worked as the receivers coach at Griffin High before he was hired by cross-town rival Spalding.

The Prince George’s County Police Department’s Homicide Unit charged a suspect in connection with the murder of his...
Posted by Prince George's County Police Department on Sunday, February 18, 2024

“It was time for me to grow as a coach. I hadn’t had that opportunity just yet to be a head coach, and when it presented itself, I prayed about it with my mom, my dad and my pastor,” Kearney told the AJC in a 2021 interview. “I felt it was time. The beauty of the situation I’m in now is that even though I’m not at my alma mater, I’m at a place I’m used to being at. I’m still in the same town that I grew up in. Getting that opportunity here, I thought this would be a great job to be a head coach.’’

Kearney took over a team that went 1-9 the previous season and advanced to the playoffs in 2021, 2022 and 2023, an unprecedented streak in school history. In 2023, the Jaguars posted a 12-1 record and won the region title, the team’s first in 20 years.

Kearney was also the winner of Georgia High School Football Daily’s Class 4A coaches award for most improved winning team following the 2021 and 2023 seasons.

Just before noon Monday, an ambulance pulled into the driveway of the home of Kearney’s parents, and two uniformed men exited. They entered the home and eventually took someone away in a stretcher. The woman and man who answered the door declined to be interviewed.

— Staff writers Todd Holcomb, Ty Tagami and Fletcher Page contributed to this article.