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Hearing set for suspect in killing of former Saints star
Original Publication Date: May 19, 2016 5:22PM
Publication Updated: April 28, 2025 9:05AM
NEW ORLEANS – The suspect in the April shooting death of retired New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith is set for a Friday court hearing.
More details in the case against Cardell Hayes may be revealed at the hearing in New Orleans before Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Camille Buras.
Hayes was indicted last month on a second-degree murder charge in Smith’s slaying. Hayes was also indicted on a charge of attempted second-degree murder because police say he wounded Smith’s wife in the shooting.
The shooting occurred after Hayes’s Hummer hit Smith’s Mercedes SUV from behind on the night of April 9, police have said.
Hayes’ defence lawyer, John Fuller, has said Hayes was not the aggressor and that a witness saw a gun in Smith’s possession. A loaded gun was found in Smith’s vehicle, police said.
A lawyer for Smith’s family, Peter Thomson, insists Smith never brandished or carried a gun that night. Thomson has described Hayes as “enraged” during the altercation and portrayed his clients as the victims.
Smith was shot seven times in the back and once along his side, the coroner said. The attorney for Hayes has pointed out that Hayes stayed at the scene of the shooting until police arrived.
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