Steve McNair's Autopsy Report Explains in Graphic Details How the Football Player Was Killed
The four bullets that entered Steve McNair's body took very unpredictable paths.
Published Aug. 20 2024, 9:28 p.m. ET
Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was born on Valentine's Day, and was brutally murdered on the Fourth of July in 2009.
This information feels both significant and insignificant in a way that is difficult to articulate. It's as if his life was bookmarked by different causes for celebration, even as the end was clearly devastating.
Steve was killed by his mistress, a young woman by the name of Sahel Jenni Kazemi. The 20-year-old had been dating the recently retired 36-year-old football player when she began to suspect she wasn't the only person he was stepping out with.
The two spent their time together in an apartment Steve rented in Nashville. It's there that Kazemi shot him, then turned the gun on herself.
Steve McNair's autopsy report is public information and puts a sterilized spin on an upsetting story.
Steve McNair's autopsy report is revealing.
Steve's autopsy was performed at 9 a.m. on July 5, 2009, by Dr. Feng Li, who stated the football player was shot a total of four times in the head and chest.
Specifically, Steve "had a contact wound to the right side of his temple" that traveled through his brain and stopped at his left ear. A non-contact wound entered his left temple and exited on the right side of McNair's head. Two gunshot wounds in his chest exited through his back.
A contact wound is when the weapon is placed against the victim's skin. A non-contact wound indicates the weapon was held close enough to the victim to leave gunshot residue, but wasn't placed directly against the skin.
Dr. Li explained the paths through Steve's body that each bullet took, as well as the damage done to specific parts of his body. He was unable to conclude the "sequence of the inflictions."
As morbid as this might seem, it's also a revealing look at the harm that can be done from a gunshot wound.
We often think of bullets as moving from point A to point B with very little interruption, which is not the case here.
Sadly, these four bullets did an incredible amount of damage to Steve, who sustained injuries to his brain, left eye, right lung, stomach, pancreas, and left kidney which resulted in right hemothorax and hemoperitoneum.
Steve was survived by his wife and four kids.
His obituary read that Steve was survived by his wife of Jonula Mechelle McNair and his four children, Steven L., Steven O., Tyler, and Trenton.
"It was exciting, but I was still in a sad stage because it brought back memories of my dad, and how I wanted him to be there," his son Tyler shared in 2019, as his father's legacy was honored at a Tennessee Titans game.
"Now I'm able to look at the brighter side and bigger picture. I see everything that my dad has done for the Titans community and the Nashville community in general. The way they have embraced my family and me, by wanting us to come back, is really special and amazing. Giving my brother and I a chance to walk in my dad's footsteps for a minute, and honor him is an incredible feeling."
He continued, "My dad will definitely be on my mind, but I know his spirit will be there, and it will be a positive outlook. I know he'll be smiling down from heaven, because he'll be so excited to see us do that."
