Monroe Chat

Tenn. police rule McNair’s death a homicide
By TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer
44 minutes ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—Police are calling the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair(notes) a homicide, but they haven’t yet reached a conclusion about the death of the 20-year-old woman found with him.

Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Sunday that the two had been dating the past several months.

Aaron says McNair was shot four times, twice in the head. The woman, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, was killed by a single gunshot wound. The pistol was found near her body.

The 36-year-old McNair, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who was married with four children, and Kazemi were found dead Saturday at a Nashville condominium he shared with a friend.

McNair played most of his career with the Tennessee Titans before he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens. He retired last year.

How many more celeb deaths??? So if they come in three's.....is it going to stop with 6, 9, 12???

Married and dating. Not looking too good for the wife.....although it could have been murder/suicide (if he were to end the relationship with this lady).

Reading the report he had multiple shot wounds, whereas she only had one ....... I think that is pretty evident who did what to whom

To think his Wife and Children have to bury and mourn their Hubby and Father, under such a cloud ......

It's been a dreadful time of late ..hearing about all these celebrity deaths and some under odd circumstances -Jeepers !

Sounding more and more like a murder-suicide. Although it wouldn't be too difficult to frame it as such.

--------------------------

Girlfriend hoped to wed McNair
The Tennessean and Associated Press reports • July 6, 2009

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – By all accounts it was a whirlwind romance.

It started about six months ago, when former Titans quarterback Steve McNair exchanged phone numbers with Sahel Kazemi, a then-19-year-old waitress working at Dave & Buster's restaurant at Opry Mills. Saturday, the relationship ended in tragedy, as the couple was found shot to death in a downtown condominium.

Police continue to investigate the circumstances of the events leading up to the deaths, but according to friends of Kazemi, she was smitten and so was McNair.

Another relative Kazemi says Nashville police told him she recently purchased a gun. Farzin Abdi, Kazemi's nephew, says police told him they are almost sure the 20-year-old Kazemi was the shooter, but he says she had no motive.

For her 20th birthday in late May, McNair got her a black Cadillac Escalade. Her family met him over sushi dinner that same weekend. Before that, Kazemi zipped around in his Bentley, telling family and friends about the generosity of her new beau — a former professional athlete.

"We met him because I don't watch football and didn't know who he was," said Farzin Abdi, Kazemi's nephew, who was in town from Jacksonville, Fla. to retrieve the body. "We went out to dinner and she was so happy and was having fun. Were we happy about the relationship? No."

Kazemi's family and friends pieced together a portrait of their relationship — one they were leery of because of her age — as police confirmed on Sunday that McNair was shot four times. Police have stopped just shy of calling it a murder-suicide at the Second Avenue condominium where both of them died.

"It's hard right now to imagine what people are saying," Abdi said. "I can't believe it because she was a sweet girl. This is hard on us."
Marriage anticIpated

There were trips, dinners, a promise of living together and ultimately marriage, according to Abdi, 27.

"I don't know if he had filed for divorce but I thought it wouldn't happen," Abdi said, adding that Kazemi was a child when adopted into the family after her mother died in Iran. Abdi's mother is Kazemi's sister.

McNair took Kazemi, known as Jenny to friends, on trips to Key West in Florida, Las Vegas, California, Hawaii and McNair's farm in Mississippi, with the couple seeing each other often, Abdi said. Pictures of the smiling couple parasailing were posted Sunday afternoon on the celebrity gossip site TMZ.com.

Kazemi told Abdi they would take a break when McNair would go away on his own with his children. McNair and the children recently returned from Mexico, Abdi said.

"I was under the impression that his family knew about her," Abdi said. "That he took the children alone with him on vacation is a sign that they were separated."

Kazemi told her sister, Sepideh Salmani, that McNair was in the process of divorcing.

Kazemi, though younger than Abdi and Salmani, was actually their aunt but they were raised as siblings.

Salmani talked to her sister every day and said she was very happy in her relationship with McNair.

"That's why she was like, 'OK, now you're divorcing. We can date,' " Salmani said. "He told her, it was going to be finished, the whole divorce was going to be done, two weeks from yesterday."

Although a check of Davidson County's court records shows there is no divorce pending — at least in Nashville — McNair's house is for sale. His wife, Mechelle McNair, hasn't spoken to the media. Police said she is distraught over his death.

Kazemi was a young woman who wanted to have fun and couldn't have hurt anyone — not herself or someone else, Salmani said.
'A super sweet girl'

McNair and Kazemi met earlier this year in January or February at Dave & Buster's. She was attractive and approachable, family and friends say. McNair was a regular, often coming in with family, friends or alone.

"He was one of the nice guys who would talk to you, not like the other athletes," said Brandon Millichamp, who worked with Kazemi at the restaurant. "And she was a super sweet girl. I was surprised to hear about their dating and this was so out of the blue."

When Kazemi was moving to a Hermitage apartment, McNair was also there, prompting neighbors to wonder who was moving in. But Kazemi had a roommate who quickly moved out as she had moved in, neighbors said.

Kazemi also didn't like living alone, Abdi said. One of the conversations turned to talk about Abdi going to a shooting range in Florida. He told Kazemi that since she didn't like being alone — or if she felt unsafe — getting a gun carry permit would be an option.

"She told me she didn't have to because Steve had lots of guns," Abdi said.

As her birthday approached in May, Abdi said, Kazemi wanted the family to visit Nashville.

"Don't buy me any gifts, just come and spend my birthday with me," she told Abdi and her sister.

Abdi said they met and partied with McNair at local clubs. Still, the family was hoping she'd reconsider moving back to Florida.
Others were jealous

The family was worried about the rapid relationship and the extravagance that came with it.

"She was in a Bentley and I don't think it was right because there are jealous people," Abdi said. "People were telling her that they didn't have anyone to pay their bills or buy them things."

Kazemi first came to Nashville nearly four years ago with her then-boyfriend, Keith Norfleet. They broke up about six months ago, and she started seeing McNair soon after. The family says the ex-boyfriend was not happy about her seeing the former quarterback and wanted to rekindle their relationship.

But Kazemi had moved on and remained friends with Norfleet.

Neighbors said they overheard arguments come from her Hermitage apartment periodically, and occasionally saw Kazemi dropped off by a limo service. Abdi said they were minor arguments without giving details of the spats.

Neighbor Regan Howard thought things were fine between the couple when Kazemi arrived in the Escalade — her birthday gift from McNair. Howard recalls Kazemi not knowing how to use some of the vehicle's accessories, like the remote keys and other buttons.

"She was a nice, pretty girl, who acted like any other 19 or 20-year-old," Howard said.

Kazemi and her family moved to the U.S. in 2002, fleeing Iran to Turkey before settling in Florida. As members of the Baha'i Faith, they were in danger in Iran. They quickly got acclimated in the U.S. Kazemi worked hard and liked earning her own money, the family said.

Her greatest dream, Salmani said, was to be famous.

"I think she is now," Salmani said. "She is everywhere."

Team coach currently on Fox News giving news report ....... He started by saying " The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say ......" then a whole bunch of I love you's to Family ....

His legacy might be as a terrific football player, but his Wife and Children will live with the way he died and the associated humiliation.... I know this sounds incredibly harsh and maybe his wife did know what he was doing, in which case then I guess it is a personal choice and lifestyle,... This is a judgement and I'm sorry for that... two lives were lost but there are many more who have unwillingly become entrenched in a sordid situation....

Saw that his wife is claiming to know nothing about the cheating and that they were selling their house to move into a different one.....not that they were getting a divorce, as the girlfriend's family is saying. Now they are saying that the gun she purchased was under her and she had gunpowder residue on her hands. I think it's starting to look like he wanted to end the relationship and this was her way out. Very sad situation.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Tests: McNair's girlfriend had gunpowder on hands

By TERESA M. WALKER, AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker, Ap Sports Writer – 10 mins ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville's assistant medical examiner says gunpowder residue was found on the hands of Steve McNair's girlfriend, who was found dead alongside the slain former NFL star. Assistant medical examiner Feng Li said Wednesday the test results make it even more likely that 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi shot McNair and herself, but he stopped short of confirming it was a murder-suicide.

The two were found dead on Saturday. McNair had been shot four times, while Kazemi had a single gunshot wound to the head. A gun bought two days earlier by Kazemi was found under her body.

Results of ballistics tests on the gun and toxicologies are still pending.

Nashville's police chief is holding a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An associate said Wednesday that the wife of ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair didn't know about Sahel Kazemi before the 20-year-old woman was found dead alongside her husband on the Fourth of July.

McNair, 36, was shot four times in what the medical examiner has said is likely a murder-suicide, though police haven't confirmed that Kazemi was responsible.

Mike Mu, who has worked with McNair's charitable foundation for years, said Mechelle McNair "didn't know who this girl is."

Mechelle McNair, who has not spoken publicly since the shooting, has been described by people close to her as being very upset and distraught. Agent Bus Cook said McNair's wife was "in and out" of it in the hours after the shooting.

Kazemi's family told reporters that the woman was so confident McNair was divorcing his wife of 12 years that she was preparing to sell her furniture and move in with the former quarterback.

Mu is handling media inquiries for Thursday night's memorial service in Nashville. A funeral service will be held Saturday in Mississippi.

The close friend who reported McNair's death to 911 defended his friend since their days playing football at Alcorn State to The Tennessean. Robert Gaddy, who did not immediately return a text message to his cell phone from The Associated Press on Wednesday, said the the McNairs' Nashville home was on the market because they were looking for a new house.

"People need to quit talking about what they don't know. Mac never said anything to me about he was going to get a divorce, and ever since this has all happened everybody is trying to paint a certain picture and they need to talk about what they know," Gaddy told newspaper.

The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback was being remembered Wednesday at the stadium where he played much of his career. The Tennessee Titans opened LP Field for fans to watch video highlights of McNair's 13-year NFL career, look at photos of the quarterback and had a book for them to write messages that will be given to the family.

The McNairs married in 1997, and Mechelle is the mother of two of his four sons. She met McNair while both were students at Alcorn State, though she also studied nursing in Nashville and became a nurse while he played for the Titans.

Mechelle McNair tended his numerous injuries at home, changing bandages and even helping with intravenous fluids in 2001 when her husband needed I.V. antibiotics for an infection that developed after shoulder surgery.

Police: McNair shot dead in sleep by girlfriend
By LUCAS L. JOHNSON II, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 40 minutes ago

shot dead in his sleep last week by a 20-year-old girlfriend distraught about mounting financial problems and her belief that he was seeing someone else, police said Wednesday.

Sahel Kazemi “was spinning out of control” when she shot McNair four times as he dozed on a sofa early Saturday, then turned the gun on herself, Police Chief Ronal Serpas said.

Interviews with friends revealed that she was making payments on two cars, her rent was doubling and she suspected the married McNair was having a second affair with another young woman, Serpas said.

Before shooting herself, she sat next to his body and “tried to stage it so she would fall in his lap,” Serpas said. She did, but her body slid to the floor and ended up at McNair’s feet. The gun was found underneath her.

No records of divorce proceedings have surfaced. The McNairs have four children.