NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Nashville judge has agreed to give Mechelle McNair, widow of murdered NFL quarterback Steve McNair, $2.5 million pending the settling of his estate. On July 4, 2009, Steve McNair, 36, was shot to death by his mistress, 20- year old Sahel Kazemi, as he slept in his Nashville condo. Kazemi later turned the gun on herself.
Investigators later ruled it was a murder-suicide.
While McNair’s estate is valued at about $19.6 million, the Associated Press reported that his assets have been frozen while the case is in probate. Mechelle, who has two children with McNair, asked the judge for $500,000 for herself and each of McNair’s four children pending the outcome of the case.
At the time of death, McNair, who played 11 seasons with the Tennessee Titans, and two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, did not have a will. The majority of his assets have been frozen since his death.
McNair and Mechelle were married in June 1997.
McNair, who was born in Mt. Olive, Mississippi and later attended Alcorn State University, was a Round 1, third pick in the 1995 NFL Draft for the Houston Oilers.
In 1997, he began his first season as quarterback for the Tennessee Oilers. The team officially changed their name to the Tennessee Titans for the 1999 season, and McNair led his teammates to the Super Bowl four times. Recognized as the Titan’s all-time leading passer, McNair missed the 2004 season’s fourth game due to injuries, and only played five more games that season.
McNair started talks with the Baltimore Ravens about a trade and in June 2006, he was 4th-round pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
McNair led his new team to one Super Bowl game before he officially retired in April 2008.
On the day of his death, two of McNair’s friends, Wayne Neely and Robert Gaddy, of Carroll County, Miss., discovered the bodies of McNair and Kazemi in the Nashville condo. McNair had been shot twice in the body and twice in the head while he slept on the couch and Kazemi was found a few feet away with a single gunshot to the head.
Investigators said at the time of her death, Kazemi was having significant financial problems and suspected that McNair was involved in another extramarital affair.
McNair, who was still legally married to Mechelle, began dating Kazemi several months prior to his death. Two days before their deaths, Kazemi was pulled over for a DUI in Nashville and police said Kazemi was driving a 2007 Cadillac Escalade registered to her and McNair.
In April 2010, an investigation by Nashville Police revealed that McNair, who reportedly had a farm in Mississippi, was a reserve policeman for the city of Greenville. Official documents said that six months prior to his death, McNair took an oath as a reserve police officer in Greenville and that he was issued a police badge and a police ID.
Greenville officials said McNair did not take the position for money, but rather to give back to the kids in the community.
McNair was scheduled to report for duty in Greenville on July 6, 2009.
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