Peter Thomson, an attorney for the Smith family, is disputing the “self-defense” theory in the shooting death of former Saint Will Smith, according to the The New Orleans Times Picayune via Pro Football Talk.
In a press conference Wednesday, Thomson painted a different picture than the one put forth earlier Wednesday by the lawyer of the passenger in Cardell Hayes’ car.
Tanzanike Ruffin, a lawyer for Kevin Oneale, said that Smith had a gun and was about to shoot it and that Hayes “saved both of their lives” by taking out Smith.
Thomson, however, said that the gun that Smith was licensed to carry remained in Smith’s Mercedes SUV when Smith got out of the vehicle.
As summarized on Twitter by Evan Goodbery of the The Times Picayune, Thomson said that a Hummer Hayes was driving stopped suddenly in front of Smith’s SUV. Smith and his wife Racquel Smith saw no damage to the Hummer and Will Smith drove away.
Moments later, Hayes rear-ended Smith’s SUV and that’s when Smith got out of his car. After the situation seemed to calm down, Hayes followed Smith. He then shot Racquel Smith in the legs before shooting Will Smith between six and eight times in the back. Thomson suggested Racquel Smith was specifically targeted. She is expected to fully recover.
Hayes faces a charge of second-degree murder. Two different sides of the story emerged Wednesday, and more facets of this tragic incident are likely to be uncovered before we get to the bottom of what really happened.