Police say McNair shooting was murder-suicide committed by McNair's girlfriend

Nashville investigators have made their determination as to who killed Steve McNair and his girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi:

Former NFL star Steve McNair was 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. Investigators may never know why Kazemi shot McNair four times as he dozed on a sofa early Saturday before turning the gun on herself, Police Chief Ronal Serpas said.

But 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.

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Serpas said police believe McNair was asleep when he was killed because there were no defensive wounds. After shooting McNair in the head, Kazemi apparently shot him twice in the chest before shooting him again in the head and then shooting herself. The gun was found underneath her.

She sat next to his body and tried to position herself to fall into his lap when she died. She did, but her body slid to the floor and ended up at McNair's feet, Serpas said. The gun was found underneath her.

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 him.

While it seems that McNair was involved in some things that many people might consider immoral or perhaps even despicable (considering he was married with four young children), I think we all agree that such judgments about his character do not make this shooting any less of a tragedy. The "easy road" some will take will say that this is a "Fatal Attraction-like" lesson for men.

Such suggestions are shallow, cold, and totally inappropriate, in my opinion.

The classless and insensitive comments by Holly Robinson, the wife of former NFL QB Rodney Peete, are examples of the "easy road." I personally think adultery is wrong and I understand how painful it can be for people who feel betrayed. But it does not warrant a "death sentence," and Robinson's comments were immature and petty.

Some might want to use this as a "morality lesson." I personally have no use for such things. We don't know what Steve McNair's personal life was. He don't know what relationship he truly had with his wife. As the police said, we just don't know.

All we do know is he and a 20-year-old girl are dead. And like most acts of violence, it was unnecessary and tragic. It is best to let the private lives of the McNair family to remain private, and to let the dead rest in peace.