Slain retired NFL player Will Smith had a fully loaded handgun in his auto when he was shot dead over the weekend in New Orleans by a motorist who had rammed his vehicle into the former football player’s auto, police said on Tuesday. “No bullet casings were found inside either vehicle and no ballistic evidence was recovered to show that either weapon was sacked during the incident”. But a friend of Hayes, who has been charged with second-degree murder in Smith’s death, took issues with Mathieu’s characterization. He said, “Two hundred years from now, they’re going to look back and say, ‘What was that madness about?’ The idea that we need [guns] to fend off intruders … people are more apt to draw them (in other situations)”. The lawyer said Hayes followed Smith culminating in the second accident, after which “all hell broke loose”.
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Police said Tuesday that Smith had a loaded 9 mm handgun inside his Mercedes. Questions remain about what exactly happened that night. “And I think the unearthing of a second gun will lend itself to the defense of Mr. Hayes”, Fuller said Monday. These will be collected and presented to the Smith Family. The passengers were uninjured, but Smith’s wife was wounded in the leg.
Payton spoke following the shooting death of Will Smith, a 34-year-old former Saints defensive lineman. Both vehicles are a standstill briefly, until the Hummer starts to pull over; the Mercedes, though, goes around and drives off. Gamble said the investigation was ongoing but did not release further details.Ferrell says he heard five shots.
Earlier, surveillance video from businesses in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District shows what may have precipitated the shooting death of former defensive end Smith: Moments earlier, what appears to be his Mercedes SUV can be seen bumping the rear of a Hummer that stopped on a busy street.
ET recently talked to one of Smith’s high school football coaches, Jerry Fiorini, who shared his thoughts on the late NFL pro’s character, sportsmanship, and the impacting legacy he left on the community where he was raised. Police say they did find a fully loaded handgun in Smith’s auto.
Another cell phone video shows a witness relating a conversation in which an unidentified man other than Hayes also claiming to have a gun prior to the shooting.
Hayes’ bond was set at $1 million on Sunday evening. “You were a great man and did so much good for so many people in New Orleans”.
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The incident initially was reported to NOPD as shots fired in the area of Felicity Street and Sophie Wright Place around 11:29 p.m. When officers arrived, they found Smith partially inside of his vehicle suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the body.
