Edwin Valero commits suicide in jail cell

The end of a terrible and shocking story has come. Early this morning, Edwin Valero, the former two-division titlist who had just been arrested for the murder of his wife in Venezuela, hanged himself by his sweat pants in his jail cell, ending his own life.

It's the final awful step in what had been about a two-year downward spiral for the fighter. Over that time, he'd been involved in multiple incidents, including assault of his mother, sister and wife, a DUI charge in Texas that made it impossible for him to fight in the one state in the U.S. that would license him, several traffic incidents, gun charges, and God knows what else that never got reported.

The AP has quotes from those who knew the troubled fighter:

Jose Castillo, Valero’s manager, criticized authorities for failing to act more forcefully to prevent the killing.

"I asked the authorities not to let him out. He needed a lot of help. He was very bad in the head," Castillo told reporters. "But they let him out. They were very permissive with him and because of that, we’re now in the middle of this tragedy."

[Valero lawyer Milda] Mora, however, said Valero "didn’t accept the help the government gave him."

"He was the only one responsible," Mora said.

Valero's two children, who are eight and five years old, are staying with their grandmother. They have now lost two parents in a span of about 48 hours, their father murdering their mother, and then taking his own life. That's something they'll have to try to understand and live with for the rest of their lives. So really, I shouldn't even say "the end" of this has come. Those two children have entire lives to live.

Bad Left Hook sends our best wishes to the children and families of Jennifer Carolina Viera and Edwin Valero. None of this is going to be easy for anybody who knew the couple. I can't even imagine being in the position they're in now.