Suspect Who Fatally Shot Former Saints DE Will Smith Claims Self-Defense in Murder Trial

Cardell Hayes: “I knew for a fact that I was going to get shot."

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There appears to be a twist in the murder trial for the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith. In a new report by the New York Daily News,Cardell Hayes, the 29-year-old suspect charged with second-degree murder after he admitted to have shot Smith in a road rage incident in New Orleans on April 9, testified on Saturday that he only fired his gun at Smith in self-defense following an altercation with the former NFL defensive player.

Hayes claimed that after the minor collision of his car into Smith's Mercedes SUV, he said Smith was the aggressor in the road rage incident, and had been seemingly drunk. The suspect stated that Smith angrily threatened to get his gun from his damaged SUV. "I knew for a fact that I was going to get shot," Hayes stated to the jury in his second-degree murder trial, and further claimed in his testimony that he heard a pop that sounded like a gunshot before Hayes fired his own gun at Smith. Hayes also stated that he didn't fire his gun at Smith's wife Racquel, despite ballistics evidence that proves she had suffered two gunshot wounds to her right leg.

The suspect also denied he sought retaliation by bumping his car into Smith's SUV after Smith had initially bumped his while they were near each other in traffic. Hayes said he went for his own gun after he and his own passenger were berated by Smith and Richard Hernandez, who was a passenger in Smith's vehicle. Hayes also claimed that Hernandez wildly took off his shirt in anger and pulled something that resembled shiny glare from his pocket, which Hayes believed could have been a knife.

His testimony continued with a statement about Hayes' brandished gun that Smith initially didn't see, and Smith tossed a cup of alcohol at him, and began to punch Hayes repeatedly. During questioning from Hayes' defense lawyer John Fuller about the fight, Hayes stated that Hernandez quickly warned Smith about Hayes' .45-caliber gun. Although, race has not played a factor in this trial.

Hayes then stated that Smith called him a racial slur and retorted, "... you got your gun. Well I'm going to get mine and I'll show you what to do with it." He claims that Hernandez also used racial slurs at him. Despite the police report which cites that Smith had possession of a gun in his SUV, it was never grabbed nor fired by Smith. Although Hayes now claims that he saw Smith's gun in his hand at the crime scene.

Lastly, Hayes stated that Smith's wife tried to calm her husband down as the fight quickly escalated, and some witnesses even claim that Smith's wife was successful to make him relax before being shot once in the side and seven times in the back. During the cross examination from Assistant Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Napoli, he repeatedly made Hayes aware that there were no additional witnesses that followed up his claim that Smith brandished gun, and that Hayes didn't tell investigators that he noticed a gun in Smith's hands.

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