NEW ORLEANS– The man who fatally shot retired NFL star Will Smith during a confrontation after a car crash in 2016 will be sentenced Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom.
It is the second time Cardell Hayes, 36, has been convicted in Smith’s death. He was convicted of manslaughter in December 2016 and later sentenced to 25 years. But the jury voted 10-2 and the conviction was later overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court banned such non-unanimous rulings.
Hayes was released on bail after serving more than four years of the original sentence. He remained free during multiple delays in the retrial, some due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But he was taken back into custody after the Jan. 27 unanimous verdict and is awaiting sentencing in the New Orleans jail.
Smith was shot eight times – seven in the back – during a confrontation with Hayes that occurred after Hayes’ SUV struck the rear of Smith’s vehicle.
Hayes has long said he shot in self-defense. He said he only fired because he believed a drunk and belligerent Smith had retrieved a gun from his SUV. He insisted 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 that Smith was intoxicated at the time of the confrontation. But there was no witness or forensic evidence to support Hayes’ claim that Smith had handled or fired a weapon. At the retrial in January, defense attorney John Fuller did not call Hayes to testify, but insisted that prosecutors had failed to prove that Hayes did not shoot in self-defense.
The overturned 2016 jury verdicts also included a conviction for attempted manslaughter for the wounding of Racquel Smith. Hayes was acquitted of that charge during the second trial in January.
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 the team to a winning season in 2006 and a 2010 Super Bowl victory.
Hayes, who owned a tow truck company, once played semi-pro and is the father of a young son.