Legal Commentary

Steve McNair Shot to Death

By TChris

Steve McNair, quarterback for the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and briefly for the Baltimore Ravens before his recent retirement, was shot to death today inside a condominium in downtown Nashville. A 20-year-old woman, Sahel Kazemi, was found dead next to McNair. She died of a single gunshot to the head.

Details of the deaths are unclear. McNair rented the condo with his friend, Wayne Neeley, who found the bodies. Neely described Kazemi as a "friend" of McNair. The Tennessean describes the deaths as a "murder-suicide" and reports that McNair had been dating Kazemi for a few months. It also reports that a pistol was found next to Kazemi's body, although Neeley (according to the AP) said that "the gun was not 'readily apparent' when police first arrived."

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Nashville police have not ruled out the possibility that a third party was involved, but they do not regard anyone (including McNair's wife) as a murder suspect and are not actively looking for a suspect.

Despite "well-publicized charges of driving under the influence and gun possession, which were dropped" and the fact that he was apparently having an affair, McNair is remembered not just as an excellent quarterback but as a good guy, in part because of the assistance he provided to Hurricane Katrina victims. McNair's skill and longevity laid to rest the stereotypes that accounted for the apparent unwillingness of team owners and managers to draft black quarterbacks.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 05, 2009 (boomark / email).