July 4, 2009

Steve McNair and Companion Found Dead, McNair Apparently Murdered

Former Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair and a female companion were found shot to death at her condominium in Nashville, according to CNN. WBIR-10 in Knoxville originally reported a murder-suicide, but has since changed their post to say only that both are dead. The Nashville CityPaper is reporting that homicide detectives are unsure whether it is a murder-suicide or double homicide. Obviously, details are sketchy. The female's identity has not been released but it is not his wife, Mechelle Cartwright, who was in Mississippi.

Speculation is rampant, and I hate to add to it, but I have to point out that Don Aaron of the Nashville Metro Police Department conspicuously did not ask for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward. That would seem to point towards the police having a fairly good handle on what occurred.


McNair enjoyed great popularity throughout his career, especially for his durability and hard-nosed scrambles. He shared the 2003 MVP award with Peyton Manning. McNair remains popular in Nashville and Baltimore, especially for his impact on the community.

McNair had two non-violent run-ins with the law prior to his death. McNair was arrested in 2003 for DUI, and an illegal loaded firearm was found in his car. He was charged again in 2007 for "DUI by consent", after a vehicle he owned and was travelling in was pulled over for drunk driving.

Still, McNair has never been associated with unsavory characters throughout his career. His death at 36 years of age comes as a great shock.

UPDATE 9:20p et: McNair was shot multiple times according to The Tennessean and Nashville Metro Police. Whether the situation boils down to murder-suicide or a double homicide, it certainly does not appear that McNair committed suicide.

UPDATE 11:41p et: According to the Tennessean...McNair was shot multiple times and his female companion, Sahel Kazemi (20) had a single gunshot wound to the head. A pistol was next to Kazemi's body. As noted above, the police are not seeking any suspects, and are tentatively treating it as a murder-suicide.

Though I got a lot of heat for it in the comments, McNair's history of DUI charges appears to be directly relevant. Kazemi was cited for DUI in a car co-registered to Kazemi and McNair just two days ago. Though not in the police report, McNair was riding in the car. In 2007, McNair was charged with DUI by consent for allowing his brother-in-law to drive his vehicle, with McNair as a passenger, while under the influence of alcohol. McNair was apparently not going to be charged for the latest incident, probably because Kazemi was also a legal owner of the vehicle.

No matter what took place that led to the incident, McNair's premature death is a horrible, and apparently senseless, tragedy.

17 Responses:

Anonymous said...

Yeah dick a man just died and you wanna put up his fucking rap sheet go fuck yourself asswipe.

J-Red said...

I posted his "rap sheet" because people are going to remember that he was arrested. I wanted to make clear that his arrests were for nonviolent crimes.

Anonymous said...

http://www.imagebam.com/image/788a6b41169441

Steve McNairs Wife Mechelle

Anonymous said...

I agree with the first post. You're a dick. CNN is not reporting a "murder-suicide" just this he was shot and killed. The local news affiliate, who is always right(wink,wink) is reporting the murder-suicide. I think people are going to remember that he played hurt and he played hard. Not that he was arrest. Just people like you, Mr. Dick.

Dirkmonster said...

I'm a huge McNair fan but the thought occurred to me right away when I heard this news was that he'd had a loaded gun in his car when he got arrested for DUI. It's relevant. RIP Steve. I really hope it was NOT a murder suicide as some are speculating.

Anonymous said...

Dumbass, Typical lawyer to go right into his record, probably looking for an ambulance to chase, yes poor fool, you are a dick

Anonymous said...

I'm a TN Titan fan and Steve is LOVED here in TN! Please don't speculate about what happened until Metro Police release the information. All they are reporting now that he was shot and killed along with a female. He was a class act and he gave back to the community. No he wasn't perfect, he had his problems, but who doesn't. He was a human being that died in a violent way. RIP Steve you will always be one of the GREATEST!

Peter said...

I wouldn't speculate on the circumstances. More will be known soon. Still a tragedy, in a summer of very sad news. Life is too short!

Anonymous said...

Check out the way the article keeps changing, Sentence structure, he also moved the positive points to the top of the story. And, he ditched the comment about Sean Taylor... He's just like the real media!

J-Red said...

I relayed the news as multiple news sources had reported it. When they changed their story, I updated the post to reflect the most accurate consensus out there. That's how breaking news works.

MSNBC reported that it was McNair's wife who was killed and then retracted it. THAT'S a major screw up.

As a McNair fan, I don't even know what I hope actually happened. I'm just following as many news sources as I can and trying to piece it together, just like you folks.

Anonymous said...

Yes, but to re-arrange the article to cover up the fact that you were an insensitive ass (as shown in the first draft) is not how "breaking news" should work. Good day!

J-Red said...

I guess you're leaving the same comments on ESPN, The Tennessean, all the television stations, MSNBC, the Baltimore Sun, and every other news source that constantly updates and tweaks their posts to make them more readable and to reflect new developments.

Anonymous said...

No, not actually, I didn't see the need to comment anywhere else. I would continue to debate your journalism skills and ethical standards, but I have a life to go be part of. Why don't you go find one too? Besides, if you argue with an idiot for too long, those watching can't tell who the idiot is.

Happy 4th, loser

Anonymous said...

his "rap sheet" posted was pretty lame; i remember him for always playing even though he was hurt. he could have taken time off to heal injuries, prolonging his career and he chose not to do so.

ps, your name must be Scott, because you're a dick! happy 4th douche

W said...

It seems most of the abuse heaped on you here was from one mentally unstable anonymous reader. I think the connections you made between Kazemi and McNair, and the DUIs, may turn out to be pertinent. There certainly was no harm in relating McNair's lack of criminal history beyond the driving convictions. All that aside, he was a tough, hard driving QB and we all hate to see him go out in this way.

DallasDude said...

Someone's "rap sheet" is certainly important regardless of how hard he played on the field. Athletes and the famous should NOT be given a pass just because they entertained us. A DUI is a SERIOUS offense as you are putting other people's lives in danger. This does not make the man a devil, but he's certainly not a role model either!

Anonymous said...

Wow! There are some very mean spirited jerks posting here. Anything that J-Red wrote can be found by simply googling McNair's name. He was only stating the facts. No ones thinks bad of McNair because he got a DUI. You jerks are the ones that look like asswipes.

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