A business owner and semiprofessional football player was indicted Thursday on a second-degree murder charge in the shooting death of retired New Orleans Saints’ defensive end Will Smith.
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Hayes is accused of fatally shooting Smith on April 9 after pursuing him at a high rate of speed following a fender bender on Magazine Street where video apparently shows a vehicle driven by Smith bumping into the back of a vehicle driven by Hayes.
Smith, 34, was hit by gunfire eight times and pronounced dead on the scene.
It was a chaotic day as the case began before a magistrate for a probable cause hearing, then moved to a new court and judge after the indictment was announced.
Police say Cardell Hayes shot the star defensive end and Smith’s wife late April 9, killing Smith and hitting Racquel Smith in both legs.
Hayes, 28, whose bail was set at $1.7 million, pleaded not guilty. Days after the shooting, NOPD spokesman Tyler Gamble said charges were pending against Hayes in connection to Racquel Smith’s shooting. A fully loaded gun was found in Smith’s SUV, though authorities said the only casings found on the scene were from Hayes’ gun and that if there was another gun present, it wasn’t fired, per Bullington.
Prosecutor Mark Burton, however, said the district attorney only had Hayes at its office because Fuller had publicly asked them that his client be given a chance to testify for the grand jury. Eventually Hayes’ vehicle slammed into the back of Smith’s Mercedes, an impact that shattered the windows of Smith’s SUV.
Hayes’ attorney John Fuller repeatedly accused the state of stalling tactics and “subterfuge” to delay the preliminary hearing while the grand jury was meeting over the indictment.
After the hearing, Fuller said he had represented thousands of people and participated in hundreds of preliminary hearings.
“My client has been indicted without an autopsy report, without a ballistic report, without a finalized police report”, he said at a news conference after the court hearings.
However, an indictment before 10 a.m. Thursday would cancel the hearing scheduled at that time, said Dane Ciolino, a criminal law professor at Loyola University-New Orleans.
Felony defendants who have not been indicted are entitled to a probable cause hearing at which witnesses must be brought forward and can be cross-examined by defense attorneys. The officer was clear in her testimony that the reference was not to anyone from Smith’s auto.
Hayes’ attorneys insist he was not the aggressor, but rather a victim of a hit-and-run the night Smith was shot. They have continued to assert, however, they can prove Hayes is “legally not guilty” of murder, suggesting – but not expressly saying – the shots might have been fired in self-defense.
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Cardell Hayes, left, alleged gunman that killed Saints player Will Smith, right.
