(AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Around 1:35 p.m. police were notified of shots fired at a condo in the upscale Rutledge Hill neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee. When they arrived on the scene they found former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a then unidentified female victim shot to death in the complex.
Police later identified the female victim as 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi.
Authorities said Kazemi had one gunshot wound to the head and that a pistol was discovered near her body. Reports also indicated that McNair was shot several times, including once in the head.
McNair was found on the sofa in the living room, and Kazemi was close to him on the floor. Don Aaron, spokesman for the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department, said the gun was not “readily apparent” when police first arrived.
Autopsies were scheduled for Sunday.
Aaron said investigators have not classified the incident yet. He said investigators have not ruled out anything, but added they were not “actively looking at suspects” as of Saturday night.
The relationship between McNair and Kazemi is unclear, but a law enforcement source close to the investigation said that the woman is McNair’s girlfriend and that the residence is her condominium in downtown Nashville.
Other reports say that McNair and longtime friend Wayne Neeley, who discovered the bodies, rented the condo together.
Police said a witness saw McNair arrive at the condo between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Saturday and that Kazemi’s vehicle was already there.
Residents of the condo told cops that McNair was a frequent visitor and police records show the two had a Cadillac Escalade registered in both their names after Kazemi was charged with a DUI earlier in the week. McNair was in the front seat, but didn’t break the law and was allowed to leave by taxi.
This combo shows Steve McNair, left, in a 2003 season file photo and Sahel Kazemi is shown in this undated booking photo from the Davidson County Sheriff. (AP Photo)
The arrest affidavit said Kazemi had bloodshot eyes and the smell of alcohol on her breath, but refused a breathalyzer test, saying “she was not drunk, she was high.”
Keith Norfleet, Kazemi’s ex-boyfriend, said he came to pick up the car and that McNair was in the car with her when the stop occurred, a fact that was not in the affidavit but was confirmed by police Saturday night.
McNair later bailed Kazemi out, according to bail bondsmen. Norfleet said she told him she was seeing McNair, who she met while working as a waitress at Dave & Busters.
The police have no one in custody and investigators don’t think Mechelle McNair (Steve’s wife) was involved in the incident, whom Aaron said is “very distraught.”
Fred McNair (Steve’s brother) did not know who Kazemi was.
McNair’s family issued a statement through a spokesman Saturday, saying, “The families of Steve McNair in Mississippi and Tennessee appreciate the concern, thoughts and prayers during this difficult time of our lost of a husband, father and son. The family requests everyone would allow them time to mourn.”
[...] Female identified as McNair investigation continues « More with Gore By Adam Gore When they arrived on the scene they found former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a then unidentified female victim shot to death in the complex. Police later identified the female victim as 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi. … More with Gore – http://goresports.net/ [...]