Wesley Hitt/Getty Images(NEW ORLEANS) — A friend of slain New Orleans Saints star Will Smith — and witness to his fatal shooting — took the stand Wednesday at the trial of his alleged killer, Cardell Hayes. She said Hayes did not seem to show remorse.
“Mr. Hayes was walking toward Will with a gun pointing at him. And I heard shots fired,” Rebecca Dooley, who was in the car with the Smiths the night of the shooting, said on the stand Wednesday morning.
After the shooting, Hayes appeared to have “no remorse,” Dooley said.
Smith, 34, was killed in an apparent road-rage shooting in New Orleans on April 9 of this year. Smith’s wife, Racquel Smith, was wounded.
Hayes, a former semi-professional football player, was charged with second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Hayes is also charged with attempted second-degree murder for allegedly shooting and injuring Smith’s wife in the incident.
Dooley said on the stand that she and her husband, Richard Hernandez, were in the SUV with the Smiths. Will Smith was driving and Hernandez was next to him, according to her testimony, which ABC affiliate WGNO-TV in New Orleans reported as follows:
She testified that an orange Hummer in front of them slammed on its brakes and then Will Smith slammed on his in response.
“There was no impact,” Dooley said.
They continued driving and she noticed headlights approaching the SUV very quickly. She said she saw the Hummer following them.
Dooley said an impact followed, during which the SUV glass shattered.
She testified that she and Racquel Smith got out of the car and saw Will Smith and Hayes arguing over who was responsible for the collision. “They both seemed angry,” she said.
Racquel Smith got in between Will Smith and Hayes and tried to diffuse the situation, Dooley continued in her testimony.
After that, Dooley said she saw Hayes walking towards Will Smith with a gun.
She cried on the stand describing the aftermath of the shooting:
Will Smith fell into the car, not moving, after he was shot, she said.
Dooley testified that then Hayes said over the ex-NFL star’s body, “Look at you now, you were showing off.”
She said that she and her husband took shelter behind some bushes and she heard Hayes say, “Where’s that white boy at?”
Dooley said she pleaded with her husband not to go over there.
Hayes’ attorney, John Fuller, has said in the past that Hayes felt threatened and was the victim of a hit-and-run just moments before he crashed into Smith’s car. He said Hayes was chasing them to get license plate numbers and that Hayes had called 911 to report the hit-and-run before the accident with Smith.
On Tuesday, Smith’s widow, Racquel Smith, testified and broke down on the witness stand saying “my worst nightmare happened for no reason.”
“I don’t want sympathy, I want justice,” she said on the stand. “He is not here today, so I am his voice.”
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and former Saints player Steve Gleason were also among those gathered at the courthouse Tuesday to lend support on the first day of the trial.
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