Will Smith, the ex-NFL player who played for New Orleans Saints, died on Saturday, April 9, following a shooting incident at around 11:29 p.m. The case which was initially thought as a road rage case took place in the upscale area in the Lower Garden District.
Dr. Jeffrey Rouse, Orleans Parish coroner, identified the fatality as Smith. The authorities added that Saturday night's shooting near the intersection of Felicity and Sophie Wright streets also involved Smith's wife Racquel. The former Saints player died on the spot while his wife survived and was immediately taken to the hospital for gunshot wounds on her legs.
A tourist named Janis Baehr witnessed the violent death of Smith as she was in the area for the French Quarter Festival. She related that while walking at the intersection, she was rattled by the sound of gunshots that were fired from six to eight times.
Baehr recalled that she run to help the bloodied woman. She gave her ice chips before noticing the wounds on Mrs. Smith's legs.
According to Fox News, the local police is probing the case to know if the incident was another case of road rage or it was planned out for revenge. A man who was at the scene when the police arrived has been taken into custody for questioning.
The man who was later identified as Cardell Hayes is now the prime suspect for the killing of the ex-Saints footballer. What made the investigators think that it may be a revenge plot was the fact that the suspect once filed a lawsuit against the city of New Orleans for the death of his father, Anthony Hayes, on December 2005.
Anthony was not mentally sound when he got into altercation with an employee at a pharmacy store. Police officers were called to the scene and tried to pacify the knife-wielding older Hayes, but he was eventually shot and killed at the scene.
The son, Cardell, sued the city government for killing his father. He said that the officers could have utilized a non-lethal device to suppress his father instead of a gun. If they did, his father would still be alive today, The New Orleans Advocate reported.
One of the defendants in the case filed by Cardell was a retired police captain named Billy Ceravolo. Cardell alleged that Ceravolo was one of the officers who shot his dad in 2005.
In any case, moments before the shooting, the retired police said he had dinner with ex-NFL player Pierre Thomas and the Smiths. However, he was not at the scene when Hayes bumped Smith's car and opened fire.
Hayes is currently detained for second-degree murder and the court set a US$1 million bond. Meanwhile, the Smith family thank everyone for the outpouring of support and politely requested for privacy.
Watch the full report on Smith's killing on the road: