Current:Home > MyMan who shot ex-Saints star Will Smith faces sentencing for manslaughter-LoTradeCoin
Man who shot ex-Saints star Will Smith faces sentencing for manslaughter
View Date:2024-12-23 12:07:30
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The man who fatally shot retired NFL star Will Smith during a confrontation following a car crash in 2016 is scheduled for sentencing Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom.
It’s the second time Cardell Hayes, 36, has faced sentencing in Smith’s death. He was convicted of manslaughter in December 2016 and later sentenced to 25 years. But the jury vote had been 10-2 and the conviction was later tossed after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed such non-unanimous verdicts.
Hayes was released on bond after having served more than four years of the original sentence. He remained free during multiple retrial delays, some due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But he was taken back into custody following the unanimous Jan. 27 verdict and has been awaiting sentencing at the New Orleans jail.
Smith was shot eight times — seven times in the back — during a confrontation with Hayes that happened after Hayes’ SUV struck the rear of Smith’s vehicle.
Hayes has long said he fired in self-defense. He said he fired only because he believed a drunken and belligerent Smith had retrieved a gun from his SUV. He insisted on the stand that he heard a “pop” before he started shooting and that he did not shoot at Smith’s wife, Racquel, who was hit in the legs.
Evidence showed Smith was intoxicated at the time of the confrontation. But there was no witness or forensic evidence to back up Hayes’ claim that Smith had wielded or fired a weapon. At the January retrial, defense attorney John Fuller did not call Hayes to testify, but insisted prosecutors had failed to prove Hayes didn’t fire in self-defense.
The overturned verdicts from the 2016 jury also included an attempted manslaughter conviction in the wounding of Racquel Smith. Hayes was acquitted of that charge at January’s second trial.
Smith, a 34-year-old father of three, was a defensive leader on the Saints team that lifted spirits in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005. He helped carry the team to a winning season in 2006 and a Super Bowl victory in 2010.
Hayes, who owned a tow truck business, once played semi-pro football and is the father of a young son.
veryGood! (1775)
Related
- Lala Kent Swears by This Virgo-Approved Accessory and Shares Why Stassi Schroeder Inspires Her Fall Style
- Olympic gold-medal swimmers were strangers until living kidney donation made them family
- Bette Midler and Sheryl Lee Ralph dish on aging, their R-rated movie 'Fabulous Four'
- Scheana Shay Addresses Rumors She's Joining The Valley Amid Vanderpump Rules' Uncertain Future
- Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina
- Demonstrators stage mass protest against Netanyahu visit and US military aid to Israel
- What is Crowdstrike? What to know about company linked to global IT outage
- Reese's Pumpkins for sale in July: 'It's never too early'
- Are Ciara Ready and Russell Wilson Ready For Another Baby? She Says…
- Chet Hanks says he's slayed the ‘monster’: ‘I'm very much at peace’
Ranking
- ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ review: Darren Criss shines in one of the best musicals in years
- Starbucks offering half-price drinks for a limited time Tuesday: How to redeem offer
- Missouri prison ignores court order to free wrongfully convicted inmate for second time in weeks
- Officers left post to go look for Trump rally gunman before shooting, state police boss says
- Kendall Jenner Is Back to Being a Brunette After Ditching Blonde Hair
- Pregnant Brittany Mahomes Shares Insight Into “Hardest” Journey With Baby No. 3
- How a perfect storm sent church insurance rates skyrocketing
- Crowdstrike blames bug for letting bad data slip through, leading to global tech outage
Recommendation
-
Traveling to Las Vegas? Here Are the Best Black Friday Hotel Deals
-
Find Out Which America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Stars Made the 2024 Squad
-
George Clooney backs Kamala Harris for president
-
Massachusetts issues tighter restrictions on access to homeless shelter system
-
Bo the police K-9, who located child taken at knifepoint, wins Hero Dog Awards 2024
-
The Secret Service budget has swelled to more than $3 billion. Here's where the money goes.
-
Biles, Richardson, Osaka comebacks ‘bigger than them.’ They highlight issues facing Black women
-
How historic Versailles was turned into equestrian competition venue for Paris Olympics