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Thread: Cardell Hayes Gets 25 Years in 2016 LA Manslaughter of Former New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith

  1. #1
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    Cardell Hayes Gets 25 Years in 2016 LA Manslaughter of Former New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith




    Former Saints DE Will Smith dead after he and wife shot in road-rage attack

    Former Saints defensive end Will Smith is dead after he and his wife were shot in a road-rage attack late Saturday night in New Orleans.

    The shootings took place during an argument that occured when Smith's SUV was rear-ended at an intersection, police said. Smith died behind the wheel while his wife, Racquel, was wounded in the leg. Police say Cardell Hayes, 29, was arrested and charged with second degree murder and that a gun was recovered.

    Smith, 34, was a five-time defensive captain during his 10 seasons with the Saints, leading the team in sacks for three straight years (2005-07) and finishing with 67.5 in his career, fourth-most in team history.

    He experienced the highs and lows —€” winning a Super Bowl in 2009 and being suspended four games in 2012 following the NFL's investigation into the Bountygate scandal. His suspension was later overturned.

    Smith tore an ACL in the 2013 preseason and was released following the season in a cost-cutting move. Still, he thanked the Saints and said New Orleans had become home to his family.

    "While it was always my dream to retire as a member of the New Orleans Saints, I recognize that the NFL remains a business first. I will always be grateful to Mr. (Tom) Benson, Mr. (Mickey) Loomis, and Coach (Sean) Payton for the opportunity they gave me to play the sport I love in front of football's greatest fans, amongst some of my best friends. ...

    "We accomplished great things during my time with the Saints, including winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history, and I am proud of my contributions during the decade I wore black and gold. My wife Racquel and I will continue our commitment to improving lives for New Orleans' youth no matter where my next stop in professional football takes me. I'm in good spirits, thankful and focused on training. My family and I welcome the next chapter in our NFL life. Who Dat!"

    Smith was drafted 18th overall in 2004 out of Ohio State, where he was named a member of the All-Decade Team.

    http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/w...ck-wife-041016

  2. #2
    Jan
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    Suspect in Will Smith shooting death was former prep star

    New Orleans Police Department spokesman Tyler Gamble on Sunday identified Cardell Hayes, 28, as a suspect in the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints DE Will Smith.

    Gamble said the investigation was ongoing but did not release further details. Online court records show Hayes pleaded guilty in 2014 to one count each of possessing an illegal weapon and possessing drug paraphernalia.

    According to NOLA.com, Hayes was a former Louisiana prep football player, who starred at Warren Easton High School and played for a developmental team locally as recently as last year.

    He was considered one of the state's top prospects during his high school days, but his freshman season would have come in 2005 and likely disrupted by Hurricane Katrina.

    Hayes also sued the New Orleans Police Department in 2005 over his father's shooting death at the hands of police. The high-profile suit was settled in 2011, and one of the officers named as a defendant was having dinner with Smith just before the shooting occurred, according to The Advocate.

    Hayes' attorney in that suit said Hayes received a "large" settlement in that case, in confirming this story to The Advocate. He apparently is not representing Hayes now, however.

    While Hayes asked for $4 million in that suit, NOLA.com says the terms being discussed just before the settlement were much lower. Theiir report says the city offered $80,000 apiece for Hayes and his sister and the pair countered with a demand for $125,000 each.

    Hayes used the nickname "Bear" on his Facebook page and recently posted photos that claimed he was an extra -- as a football player in a stadium scene -- in the movie "22 Jump Street," according to the New York Daily News.

    Smith, the former defensive end for the Saints, was driving in a Mercedes late Saturday through an upscale part of the city called the Lower Garden District when his vehicle was hit from behind by Hayes' vehicle, an orange Hummer H2, police said.

    That caused Smith's vehicle to hit a gray Chevrolet Impala in front of him. Two acquaintances of Smith's were in the Impala but not injured.

    At some point in the ensuing incident, Smith and Hayes -- the driver of the Hummer -- exchanged words, police said. That's when police say Hayes pulled out a gun and shot Smith multiple times. He also shot Smith's wife in the leg, but she was taken for treatment at a local hospital.

    Police said they recovered the weapon and took Hayes into custody. NOLA.com says he's been charged with second-degree murder.

    In New Orleans and around the NFL, tributes to Smith poured in early Sunday.

    http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/w...l-hayes-041016

  3. #3
    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    Will Smith shooter convicted by 10-2 vote

    After the jury's verdict convicting Cardell Hayes in the shooting death of former Saints player Will Smith was read aloud in court Sunday (Dec. 11), the judge polled the 12 men and women who deliberated more than five hours to reach their answer.

    Orleans Criminal District Judge Camille Buras first asked each juror on the top row, individually, whether he or she voted guilty on the manslaughter charge. Each juror on that row responded affirmatively, either with a silent nod, a quiet, "yes," or a combination.

    A woman in the second row answered, "No," loud enough to be heard by some in the courtroom gallery -- her mouth shaping a deliberate "O," as she spoke. A man in same row, when asked, shook his head from side to side, repeatedly and obviously, indicating he was the other juror who went against the majority. The same jurors gave the same answers when Buras then asked each juror whether she or she voted guilty on the attempted manslaughter charge -- the charge convicting Hayes of shooting Racquel Smith.

    Buras later confirmed the jury voted 10-2 to convict Hayes on both charges. The verdict to acquit him of criminal damage to property relative to the allegation Hayes purposefully rammed Will Smith's Mercedes with his Hummer was unanimous; she did not poll the jury on that count.

    Only in Louisiana and Oregon can defendants on trial for most felonies be convicted by a majority. In 48 other states and in federal criminal court, a unanimous verdict is required.

    http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/...rdell_hay.html
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

  4. #4
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    April 20, 2017

    Cardell Hayes sentenced to 25 years for manslaughter in killing of ex-Saints DE Will Smith

    By Danny Monteverde
    eu.usatoday.com

    NEW ORLEANS -- Cardell Hayes, the man convicted of shooting and killing former Saints player Will Smith has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, Judge Camille Buras ruled Thursday.

    Hayes was given 25 years for manslaughter for killing Will Smith and 15 years for attempted manslaughter for wounding Racquel Smith. Those sentences will be served concurrently, amounting to 25 years in prison.

    Hayes was expected to face anywhere between 20 and 60 years. Judge Buras said a sentence any less than that would deprecate the seriousness of the offense.

    Before noon, during testimony, an emotional Hayes told the family of Smith that he wishes he would’ve died instead instead of Smith the night he gunned down the former New Orleans Saints star on a Lower Garden District street after a road-rage incident.

    “I should have just let him (Smith) kill me,” said Hayes, who faces decades behind bars for the killing of Smith and the wounding of his wife. “Being away from my son for 60 years, what’s the difference from being dead?”

    His words began the second day of testimony in his sentencing hearing, a morning punctuated by highly-emotional testimony from Hayes’ mother, who pleaded with the court to lock her up instead.

    “Just lock me up to give me my son back!” Dawn Mumphrey, Hayes’ mother, begged. “Punish me instead!”

    What might have otherwise been a routine proceeding became extended hearing after his attorney, John Fuller, filed a motion for a new trial Tuesday, a day ahead of the scheduled sentencing. Judge Buras denied that request, but allowed victim-impact statements to begin Wednesday.

    Hayes has maintained that he fired at Smith because he feared for his life once the men began to argue after Hayes ran into the back of Smith's SUV late April 9, 2016.

    A jury convicted him of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter for shooting Smith's wife in the leg.

    Though he cried on the stand Thursday, he also became defensive when Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli asked him if he felt remorse for his actions. A day earlier, Racquel Smith said all she ever wanted was for Hayes to tell her he was sorry for what happened.

    “I did not stand over Will and pump seven shots into his back like you said,” Hayes told Napoli. “I apologize for their loss. I can say it a million times. I wish that night never happened.”

    Looking at the Smith family, Hayes, who played semi-professional football, said he looked up to Smith. “I would never just purposefully take his life. I can’t blame y’all for hating me."

    https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports...nts/100711254/

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