Super Bowl winner and former New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith was gunned down and killed on Sunday by a man who had rear-ended his car.
New Orleans Police Department spokesman Tyler Gamble cannot say if it was a case of "road rage" but a police statement says Smith and the driver of the Hummer SUV exchanged words before he was shot multiple times. His wife Racquel was also shot in the leg and was reported by CNN to have been taken to a hospital.
Police booked Cardell Hayes,30, on second degree murder charges and bail was set at $1M.
Hours before the shooting, Smith and his wife were in a restaurant, Sake Cafe at the French Quarter Fest, an annual event at the famed New Orleans district having "a really good time," according to Manager Dave Matherne. The couple was joined by former New Orleans police officer Billy Ceravolo, former Saints team mate Pierre Thomas and an unnnamed sports agent, CNN quoted Matherne.
The Smiths left in a Mercedes G63 SUV just before the restaurant closed. According to police, they were following acquaintances in a gray Chevrolet Impala and as they approached an intersection Hayes crashed into Smith's car which also hit the Impala. It was then that words were exchanged and Hayes fired several shots.
It was not clear to police if Smith,34, and Hayes had known each other before the confrontation or that anything except the car wreck led to the shooting. After the shooting, Hayes waited for police to arrive and arrest him. Citing on-going investigation, police cannot say if Hayes claimed self-defense for the motive of his action, according to Fox Sports.
Hayes sued the New Orleans Police Department and six officers after police killed his father in 2005. Billy Ceravolo, who earlier dined with the Smiths, was one of the police officers involved. He was not present during the crash, Gamble said.
As reported by ABC News, Smith was beloved by football fans for helping bring the Super Bowl championship to New Orleans in 2009 as defensive captain, a role that has also embroiled him in NFL's bounty probe in 2012.
He was a native of Queens, New York and played for the Ohio State team that won the 2002 national championship. He graduated with a degree in Criminology in 2005.
