A New Orleans man involved in the fatal shooting of Ohio State and New Orleans Saint great Will Smith eight months ago was found guilty late Sunday night of manslaughter by an Orleans Parish Criminal District Court jury.
Cardell Hayes has been found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of ex-NFL star Will Smith. Lesser charge but faces 20-40 years in prison.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) December 12, 2016
Cardell Hayes, the other party in the road rage incident that left Smith dead and his wife Raquel Smith hospitalized, was found guilty after nearly six hours of jury deliberations. His claim that he shot Smith in self-defense was rejected by the jury, which voted 10–2 for the conviction. Hayes faced charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated criminal damage.
Although Smith's blood alcohol content was .235 – nearly three times the state's legal limit to drive at the time – Hayes' Saturday testimony was not enough to sway the jury:
Hayes testified for 2 hours and 5 minutes on Saturday, insisting that he accidentally plowed into the back of the Smiths' vehicle. Crash reconstruction expert Michael Sunseri, hired by the state to interpret telemetry information from both vehicles' data recorders, concluded that the second collision "has all the markings of an intentional crash."
Hayes said he took out his .45-caliber Ruger handgun because he felt threatened by Hernandez, whom Hayes said removed his shirt and wrapped it around something Hayes believed was a knife. No other witness reported seeing a weapon in the hands of any member of Smith's party.
Hayes also testified that Will Smith threw a cup with an alcoholic beverage at his cheek, shoved Hayes' best friend Kevin O'Neal toward the ground, and punched Hayes four to five times. No other witness - including O'Neal - testified to seeing any of that.
Hayes will be sentenced on Feb. 17, 2017. The charge carries a sentence of up to 40 years.
