Widow of ex-Buckeye Will Smith sues shooter
The widow of former Ohio State Buckeye and New Orleans Saints football player Will Smith has sued the man convicted of killing him and wounding her in a road-rage incident in New Orleans.
Racquel Smith filed the lawsuit in Orleans Parish Civil District Court on Friday, two days before the anniversary of Smith’s death on April 9, 2016.
Her attorney, Zach Schiff of Columbus, is among the attorneys of record in the case, but he said a New Orleans firm has been hired to pursue the lawsuit.
The suit was filed primarily against Cardell Hayes, 29, who was convicted in December of manslaughter in Will Smith’s death and attempted manslaughter in the wounding of Racquel Smith.
Hayes and Will Smith, who was 34, got into an argument after Hayes’ Hummer H2 hit Smith’s Mercedes SUV from behind, police said. Will Smith was shot seven times in the back and once in his side. Racquel Smith, who was a passenger in the Mercedes, was shot twice in the legs.
Hayes’ criminal defense attorney, John Fuller, has said Hayes fired because he believed that Will Smith was going for a gun. Police said a loaded gun was found in Smith’s Mercedes.
An attorney for the Smith family, Peter Thomson, insisted that Will Smith never brandished or carried a gun. Thomson has described Hayes as “enraged” during the altercation and said his clients were the victims.
Will Smith was a big part of Ohio State’s 2002 nationalchampionship team and a first-round pick by the NFL’s Saints in 2004. He was with the Saints in the 2009 season when they won the Super Bowl. He retired in 2012.
Will Smith was a popular figure in the city because of his charitable work.