After a deadly shooting, she’s finding solace in soccer
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When her soccer-loving boyfriend was shot and killed during a break-in, Heidi Underhill found support from fellow fans; ‘I really think it saved my life’
Heidi Underhill pictured with boyfriend Brenton McCaskill, in his beloved Tottenham jersey. (Photo courtesy of Underhill.)
In the wee hours of the worst night of her life, Heidi Underhill woke up to the sound of breaking glass. Or was it their dogs barking frantically? Then and now, nearly a year and a half later, she doesn’t remember. All she knows is she was jarred from sleep, panic radiating through her.
Waking next to her, her boyfriend, Brenton McCaskill, asked if she was having a bad dream.
If only.
“No, something’s wrong,” she recalls telling him. “Something’s wrong in Jake’s room.”
One of her 17-year-old twin sons, Jake, was spending the night out. But she heard noises coming from his room. McCaskill went to find out what they were.
“I could hear him,” Underhill said. “He said, ‘What the (expletive) are you doing, you (expletive)?’ and ran in the room. And that was last time I saw Brenton.”
Realizing there was an intruder in her house, Underhill went to knock frantically on the bedroom door of her other 17-year-old son, Josh, to wake him and his girlfriend. She could hear scuffling in the other room, but by the time they got to Jake’s room, it was empty. They found Brenton outside the broken window, unconscious, leaning against the house, blood coming from his mouth.
“I was on the phone with 911, on speaker,” she said. “Brenton was a big man, and we were trying to get him on the ground to do CPR. I was in shock. I remember Josh screaming at me, ‘Help me! Help me! Help me!’ And then the police pulled up.”
Gaston County police arrived at her Cramerton home and began administering CPR. At that point, Underhill knew McCaskill had been in a fight. She had no idea that while he’d fought with one intruder, another had shot him twice in the back of the head.
Underhill spent hours on that cold and rainy November morning, sitting in her driveway, being questioned by police, who were checking her story against her son’s and his friend’s. In her state of shock, she didn’t realize she was considered a potential suspect.
“I had been asking everybody who I could ‘What’s going on with Brenton?’ ‘Is Brenton in surgery?’” she said. “Another detective showed up to interview us, and I was in his car. I said, ‘Before you ask me any questions, can you just please tell me is Brenton OK?’ And he said, ‘Honey, I’m a homicide detective.’”
Police had been tipped off that one of the intruders bragged about a break-in on social media. Four men were arrested, three of them are in prison, including one serving a 32-year sentence for second degree murder, burglary and conspiracy. The only motive Underhill is aware of that the intruders had on their minds that morning was burglary. The men had taken one load of belongings to the car and were coming back for more when they ran into McCaskill.
“It’s been like a movie that replays in your head,” Underhill said. “Even now, it doesn't feel real.”
Underhill holding a “Because of Brenton” scarf at a Southbound & Crown event. (Photo courtesy of Underhill.)
She spent the week after his death in bed at her mother’s house, barely eating, barely sleeping. She remembers her oldest daughter, Kyley, rubbing her head one night, and suggesting they watch a documentary about the Tottenham Hotspur, Brenton’s favorite Premier League soccer team.
“I said, ‘OK, Brenton would like that,’” Underhill said. “He was watching that documentary the night that he died. It was the last thing he watched on TV.”
Together, she said, she and her daughter must have watched it 30 times over the next week or so.
McCaskill had been a member of the South Carolina Spurs fan club, and members from that group started reaching out to see how they could help. They started a “Go Fund Me” page in honor of McCaskill, raising money to help pay for local children to play recreational sports. They had the locks changed on Underhill’s windows and doors.
They organized a watch party for Tottenham’s game against rival Arsenal about a week after his death. They sent the word on social media that during the 32nd minute of Tottenham’s game, they were going to toast Brenton, who was 32 when he died. The story was picked up by Roger Bennett and Michael Davies, hosts of national soccer podcast and TV show “Men in Blazers.”
Ultimately, members of Spurs fan clubs from some 15 different countries participated that night. Fans from England, Spain, Scotland, Norway and all over the U.S. posted pictures of their toasts on Twitter. Tottenham won the game 2-0.
“It was a beautiful moment for me,” Underhill said. “I cried my eyes out. And then as Covid started lifting, I started going to whatever viewing party I could go to. It was the only thing I wanted to get out of bed for. It made me feel closer to Brenton. Those were the people that rallied around us.”
By the night of the break-in, Nov. 30, 2020, Charlotte had been awarded its new MLS franchise. McCaskill had joined with two friends, Michael Gallemore and Matt Burris, in his South Carolina Spurs fan group to form and name Southbound & Crown, which would become one of the biggest fan groups for the Charlotte FC.
McCaskill had been dubbed “Social Media Manager” and already set up their accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
At that point, Underhill was just beginning to get into soccer.
“I liked that he loved it,” Underhill said. “When we watched games together, I thought it was cute when they scored, how they all hugged each other. It’s not like other sports. They’re not in helmets. You can see their faces. He was always on YouTube and they’re giving interviews, playing games with each other, and you can actually get to know the players in a way I’ve never experienced in other sports. It was different.”
After his death, and awaiting the arrival of Charlotte FC, Underhill started going to Charlotte Independence games. She attended nearly every event Charlotte FC put on, whether it was “meet the coach” night or “Hispanic heritage” night or a block party.
“I knew if Brenton was alive, that’s where we would be that night,” Underhill said. “So that’s where I wanted to be.”
Underhill (bottom left) at a preseason game with Southbound & Crown. (Photo courtesy of Underhill.)
With the inaugural season approaching, she signed up to help with the tifo committee, helping fans make intricate pregame artwork. She helped out on the committee that created chants, providing an extra female voice on their recordings. She now sits on the board for Southbound & Crown.
“I really think it saved my life,” she said.
In all the time she has spent on soccer, she hasn’t had time to lay awake at night being scared and anxious, thinking about the break-in.
During the preseason, she worked on a tifo until 11:30 p.m. one night and then drove to Charleston, S.C., for an exhibition game the following day.
“It was really, really rough for a very long time,” said Underhill, who is a lease manager for an apartment complex in Rock Hill and still lives in the same house. “But now, to be honest, I’m exhausted.”
She laughed, and it’s infectious. Underhill is quick to laugh and not quite as quick to cry these days. She’s done plenty of both the first few months of Charlotte FC’s first season.
As she toasted McCaskill on a rooftop bar in Washington hours before Charlotte FC’s first game against D.C. United, the tears flowed. A few hours later she could only laugh after she tumbled two rows down the stands in a wave of excitement after Charlotte FC player Titi Ortiz scored what everybody thought was the franchise’s first goal. It was waived off for offsides.
Underhill didn’t mind being the butt of a few jokes that week. She went so far as to wear a helmet to the home opener at Bank of America the following week to protect herself on any falls.
Underhill in her helmet at the tailgate before the home opener at Bank of America Stadium. (Photo courtesy of Underhill.)
Standing shoulder to shoulder in the supporters’ section that night, among the record crowd of 74,479 fans, she cried when the lights went down and the lighters and phone cameras came up during the pregame show. She cried during the national anthem, when the singer’s mic went out and the crowd picked up and sang the rest of the song.
And she cried when she saw one of Southbound & Crown’s “Because of Brenton” scarves held up by a fan during a pregame video montage on the Jumbotron.
Underhill has fast-acting anxiety medication she can take in moments of panic that still crop up sometimes when she hears dogs barking, Fourth of July fireworks or the sound of a speeding car. But she takes comfort in her new passion, and new kind of support group.
“We’ve become such a family,” Underhill said. “They know my story, and they know Brenton’s story. But I don’t think when people look at me, that’s what defines me now. We would rather celebrate Brenton now than be overwhelmingly sad thinking about him. We would rather think about how much fun he would be having and how he might be getting us kicked out of some stuff, how he might be causing trouble on Twitter. …
“I think at this point with everything we’ve been through, and all the work that we’ve done, I’m more defined by being part of the family, just being part of the group. I’m not even talking about Southbound & Crown either — all of the groups. We all really connect and love each other.”
Underhill with her twin sons (Josh center, Jake right) at a recent Charlotte FC game. (Photo courtesy of Underhill.)
Up Next: Charlotte (3-5) at Colorado (2-3-2)
When/Where: 9 p.m. Saturday, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colo.
How to watch: WAXN (Channel 64), Telemundo or live stream at www.charlottefootballclub/live or on the Charlotte FC app. Local restrictions apply.
Notable:
Charlotte plays its second road game in four days, and this one in high altitude, no less, after traveling to Greenville, S.C., to play a U.S. Open Cup match Wednesday against the Greenville Triumph. Grand plans to come to Colorado with fresh legs by starting 11 reserves didn’t exactly pan out after Greenville pushed Charlotte to 30 minutes of extra time and Miguel Angel Ramirez had to sub in the likes of Ben Bender, Daniel Rios, Brandt Bronico and Christian Fuchs. But the moves paid off as Charlotte came away victorious on Harrison Afful’s goal in the 106th minute for a 2-1 win.
Charlotte advances to the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 with a match against the Richmond Kickers in Richmond either May 10 or 11.
New Polish winger Kamil Jozwiak got his first action Wednesday, coming off the bench to play 56 minutes. He showed no ill effects from the ankle that delayed his signing with Charlotte. And he showed off his aggressive style, leading all Charlotte players with four shots. Jozwiak recorded his first assist, teaming up with Afful for a picturesque give-and-go on the game-winner.
Ramirez was able to rest star striker Karol Swiderski and goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina. Rookie George Marks got his first action in goal vs. Greenville.
Titi Ortiz has scored goals in each of the past two games, including the opener in Wednesday’s game against the Triumph.
Wednesday’s winning goal in slow-mo:
Previous editions of Fútbol Friday
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Carroll Walton is a longtime baseball writer with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution now cutting her teeth on soccer and the Charlotte FC just as fans in Charlotte do. She would love to hear from you. E-mail her with questions, suggestions, story ideas and comments!
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