Hayes stayed at the scene, police said, and was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
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According to police, Smith and his wife were in a Mercedes G63 SUV late Saturday when Hayes rear-ended them in his Hummer H2, causing the Benz to hit a Chevrolet Impala carrying some of Smith’s acquaintances.
Fuller said Hayes was the victim of a hit-and-run just moments before he crashed into Smith’s vehicle and was chasing the cars to get their license plate numbers.
Hayes sued the New Orleans Police Department and six officers after police killed his father in 2005.
Not shocking whatsoever, The lawyer for Cardell Hayes says his client was not the aggressor in the altercation leading up to the shooting.
Although a police spokesman said Sunday morning that the shooting “could possibly have been road rage”, details of Hayes’s background were a focus of investigation Sunday afternoon.
“We’re not ready to talk about motive, we’re not ready to talk about how, or why this happened”, said New Orleans Police Supt.
Investigators don’t have any evidence so far that the shooting was “anything other than this accident … that turned violent”, Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said Sunday afternoon.
Cardell Hayes is being held one $1 million bond in the death of Will Smith. Although police say he didn’t know his alleged killer, some connections have emerged between the two men. Smith was scheduled to appear at the Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way Foundation’s Annual “Evening With the All-Stars” dinner in New Hartford, New York, on Thursday, April 14, which would have marked his eighth consecutive year as host of the event honoring star football players in the Mohawk Valley area of New York. Hayes allegedly shot him multiple times and Smith’s wife twice in the leg. She was transported to a local hospital. The former New Orleans Saints player was fatally shot after a traffic accident.
Smith was a father, husband and friend whose loss is being mourned by those who knew and loved him. His wife was shot in the leg, though the injury was not considered to be unsafe. Smith was arguably the best sack artist in the history of the franchise, with 67.5 on his career, including 10.5 during the team’s magic 2006 NFC Championship run and 13 sacks during the Super Bowl run in 2009. He played his last National Football League game in 2012, going on to suffer a knee during the 2013 preseason. “The Crescent City Kings do not enable or condone violence in any shape, form, or fashion”, the team’s Facebook post said.
The Smith family said in a statement Sunday that they were thankful for the outpouring of support but requested privacy as they grieve.
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The NFL accused of Smith of being part of a locker-room pool that paid cash bonuses for heavy and even injurious hits.
