‘Love You To Death’: Lifetime Movie May Be Inspired By True Story Of Jenna Nannetti, Michael Simmons, And Katie Belflower

Love You To Death and The Night Listener are two sensational Lifetime movies airing tonight. The Night Listener airs on LMN at 8/7 central and Love You To Death, which is being advertised as a new original 2015 movie, will air on the Lifetime channel. Love You To Death is not advertised as a true story movie but is believed to be loosely inspired by the Jenna Nannetti murder case.

Love You To Death, was originally known as Love Me, which came out in 2012. The movie is now being distributed under the new title. Lifetime teases the movie this way.

“Sixteen-year-old Melissa Kennedy has been missing for almost three months and the town of Ridgedale is coming unhinged. Sylvia Potter wants so badly to be in love. Then sexy, quiet, rich kid Lucas Green transfers to Hampton Prep and the sparks fly — despite the warnings of almost every friend in her circle. But what seems like a love story hits a major twist when the police begin an investigation into Lucas’ involvement in the Melissa Kennedy case. What really happened to Melissa and how long can Lucas and Sylvia’s relationship last in the face of this mystery?”

It appears that the producers took elements of the Jenna Nannetti case to create a new story plot for the movie. Jenna’s story was the subject of a A&E television documentary entitled I Love You To Death.

In the real story, Jenna went missing in Livermore, California, and the town tried desperately to find her. At age 17, she was already married to 19-year-old Michael Simmons, a handsome bad boy who had a juvenile record. Michael Simmons was a womanizer who couldn’t stick to just one girl. After three short months, he and Jenna officially separated. By all accounts, Jenna was absolutely devastated because Michael was the love of her life and even some family members stated that he seemed to make her extremely happy.

But Michael, who was juggling several girls at the time, had no intentions on reuniting with his 17-year-old bride. In fact, he was annoyed by Jenna’s constant calls begging him to get back together with her. Michael’s friend, 17-year-old Katie Belflower, was sexually involved with him and wanted Michael all to herself, so they devised a plan to kill her. The motive?

Court records show that Michael Simmons wanted Jenna’s Ford Mustang and money from her life insurance policy in order to buy a home for him and Katie.

On October 6, 2002, Michael Simmons tricked Jenna into meeting him about getting back together. When Jenna got to the location, she and Michael began to play and make out. In that moment, Jenna was ambushed by Katie Belflower who was wielding a baseball bat. In a callous act, Katie struck Jenna in the head with the bat as Michael Simmons and their friend Jeff Hamilton looked on.

Michael and Jenna left the home in a car, but instead of taking her to a hospital, he tried to convince her to seek revenge on Katie. At some point during the car ride, Jenna made one last attempt to call her father. She left a message on his answering machine with the following message, according to Recordnet.

“Dad, call me now. I’ve probably got a concussion because I just got hit upside the head with a… baseball bat or whatever the heck it was. I need your help now.”

Shortly after that call, Michael drove Jenna to a remote wooded location where he met up with Katie Belflower and Jeffrey Hamilton. Once at the location, with a look of surprise, Jenna turned around to see Michael Simmons pointing the gun directly at her. He made her beg for her life, before shooting her again at close range. What stood out to the trio was how clearly they could hear the gurgling sounds as Jenna tried to catch her breath. The Livermore teen died at the scene. Her dead body was found several weeks later by a fisherman.

After the murder, Katherine Belflower became pregnant with Michael’s child and tried to kill another teen girl who had a crush on Michael Simmons. That girl’s name was Aspen Lum. She survived the attack and told her parents. Jeffrey Hamilton, Katie Belflower, and Michael Simmons were all arrested.

Again, the movie strays away from the original story quite a bit. But, it is most likely based on this true story. Here’s the tease for Love You To Death under the old name Love Me.

Here is the Love Me, aka Love You To Death, movie trailer

[Photo Credit: Facebook]