Written by Johnathon Bullington at NOLA.com
It seemed like such a minor accident, witnesses said, its impact barely loud enough to wake sleeping residents Saturday night (April 9) in that patch of New Orleans’ Lower Garden District.
An orange Hummer H2 rear-ended a Mercedes-Benz SUV on Sophie Wright Place, pushing it into a third car. In the SUV’s driver seat sat Will Smith, the former Saints defensive end whose formidable pass rush helped lead the franchise to a Super Bowl victory in 2009 — lifting the spirits of a city still reeling from Katrina’s devastation.
The Hummer’s driver also experienced gridiron glory, albeit on a smaller scale.
Cardell Hayes was once ranked among Louisiana’s top high school football prospects during his 2004 season at Warren Easton High School. Then Katrina came, and, four months later, New Orleans police officers killed his father during a shooting that eventually spawned a federal lawsuit and settlement. Most recently, he had been a member of the Crescent City Kings, a local developmental team.
The two imposing men exchanged words after Saturday’s accident, police said, with one witness describing it more as a brief shouting match, followed by pops of gunfire.
When the shooting stopped, Smith was dead, slumped over the steering wheel — his feet still on the pavement. Smith’s wife, Racquel, the car’s lone passenger, was left with two gunshot wounds to her right leg. Her screams for help startled the neighborhood and prompted several 911 calls, while Hayes, identified by police as the man who pulled the trigger, remained at the scene for authorities to arrive.
“It was disturbing,” said Emilia Myers, a Lower Garden District resident who could hear the entire sequence of events from her front window. “I’m still shaky,” she said in an interview the next day.
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