NFL star's killer guilty of manslaughter, not murder

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Saints Will Smith Shot
 John Fuller, attorney for Cardell Hayes, leaves Orleans Parish Criminal District Court after the verdict Hayes' trial in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2016. Hayes was convicted of manslaughter in the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints NFL football player Will Smith, in a road rage incident. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The man who killed retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter, rather than the more serious second-degree murder charge he faced.

Cardell Hayes was found guilty Sunday night after insisting that he only fired because the popular football star was drunk and violent and had grabbed a gun following their collision in traffic last April.

No one else testified Smith ever held his gun, which was found loaded but unused inside his car.
Smith was a defensive leader on the Saints team that lifted spirits in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. He helped carry the team to a winning season in 2006 and a Super Bowl win four years later.
His death in a dispute over traffic was shocking, even for a city where residents are accustomed to a high rate of homicides.

Hayes, 29, will be sentenced on Feb. 17. He also was convicted of attempted manslaughter for wounding Smith's wife, Racquel Smith.
A murder conviction would have sent Hayes to prison for life. Now Smith's family is focused on persuading the judge to deliver a harsh sentence.



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