NFL’s Will Smith, 34, was shot on April 9 in New Orleans. He allegedly got into an altercation with Cardell Hayes, 28. Smith was driving a Mercedes-Benz G Wagon and Hayes was driving a red Hummer. The details of the road rage killing are so sketchy. There’s surveillance footage that shows Smith bumping into the back of Hayes’ SUV and then driving away from the scene. Earlier reports alleged Hayes rear-ended Smith’s Mercedes Benz SUV on April 9, which caused the former football player to rear end a Chevrolet Impala being driven by a friend of his.
A public memorial at the New Orleans Saints’ training facility in Metairie, Louisiana was held for Smith on Friday, April 15, the day before his body was laid to rest in a private funeral. His wife, Racquel Joseph Smith, made her first public appearance since she and her husband were both shot. Racquel, 33, was shot once in each leg. Her husband was shot eight times, seven in the back. He was fatally wounded.
Hayes’ attorneys, John Fuller and Jay Daniels, have requested strip club footage from The Penthouse Club or Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club, or both, to help prove Hayes is “legally not guilty.”
“It will go to the ultimate true narrative of this case, which is different than what was initially laid out in print, television and social media,” Fuller says.
Hayes was booked into the Orleans Parish jail at approximately 9:15 a.m. on Sunday, April 10 and is being held on a $1million bond.
Smith, a defensive end, was drafted from Ohio State in the first round of the 2004 draft and spent his entire career with the New Orleans Saints. He retired in 2012.
Hundred gathered at the training facility on Friday to pay their respect including Will Smith Sr., who was wearing a Saints cap and black shirt. Nearly everyone wore the team colors: black and gold. Attendees included Saints head coach Sean Payton, assistant coach Joe Vitt, and owner Tom Benson; alongside former teammates and players from across the NFL.
The Saints flag flew at half-mast outside.
