MMA fighter Justin Eilers murdered on Christmas

Photo courtesy of Sherdog.com

Earlier today, I was shocked to discover on espn.com that Mixed Martial Arts fighter Justin Eilers [pictured above] had been shot and killed late Christmas night in Nampa, Idaho during an apparent domestic disturbance. Eilers was 30-years old.

According to Sherdog.com, Canyon County sheriffs arrived at the residence of the incident at 10:44 p.m. MST, where Eilers was found shot and wounded. Capt. Dana Maxfield said that emergency medical staff took live-saving measures but were unsuccessful in their attempts and pronounced Eilers dead at the scene.

On Friday, a conducted autopsy released the cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the chest and Eilers' longtime manager, Monte Cox, stated that the bullet punctured Eilers' lung before exiting his body

According to Cox, Eilers had gathered with relatives for the holidays but tensions escalated with an ex-girlfriend who was also attending. Eilers was asked to leave the residence but refused and began throwing dishes and other objects in protest.

During Eilers' tirade, it is being reported that the home's owner pulled a gun on Eilers and shot him in the chest after a brief verbal confrontation. Even more heart-wrenching is that in addition to Eilers' ex-girlfriend being in the same room at the time of the shooting, so were Eilers' mother and young son.

The home's owner, James Robert Malec, 48, was arrested and charged with second degree murder in relation with the shooting and it is believed that Malec is Eilers' mother's boyfriend, though nothing is being confirmed other than numerous relatives were at the scene at the time of the shooting.

I am honestly at a loss for words. What can you say after reading this story? I mean, a mother lost her son and a young boy lost his father for no apparent reason other than pure stupidity and typical male-ego aggressiveness.

The sad fact of the matter is that this is now the norm in society with people no longer settling disagreements or arguments with their fists [which were the only weapons people needed a few decades ago] after words don't work but rather, pulling guns out with their trigger happy fingers.

I would like to know what exactly was going through Malec's head that would make him think shooting and killing Eilers was going to solve everything? From what is reported, no one's life appeared to be in danger and the matter could have simply been settled with a call to the local authorities. However, Malec decided to take matters into his own hands and now has a bigger mess than just the objects Eilers threw in the house.

I don't care what Eilers threw in the house or said during the argument....Malec had no right to shoot and kill him unless Eilers had a gun pulled and was going to shoot someone in the house, which doesn't appear to be the case.

As stated earlier, this appears to be a case of two guys trying to be more macho than the other and ultimately, someone's life was cut short. Also, does anyone think its kinda odd that Malec was not only the home owner but also the person that had Eilers' ex-girlfriend over at the house, knowing there was still tension between them? Just something to think about.