USA News Hub

The man who fatally shot retired NFL player Will Smith following a car crash has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Mr Smith’s daughter was in the courtroom for his sentencing and told him that he “ruined my life”.

Cardell Hayes, 36, was sentenced on Thursday in a New Orleans courtroom for his role in Mr Smith’s 2016 shooting death, making it the second time he has faced sentencing for the killing, according to WDTV.

Mr Smith was shot eight times, seven of which were to his back, during a confrontation with Hayes. Hayes rear-ended Mr Smith, which set off the confrontation.

Hayes contends that he fired in self defense, fearing that Mr Smith — who was drunk at the time, according to a toxicology report — was trying to grab a gun out of his SUV. There were no witnesses to back up Hayes’ claims, and forensic reports did not find that Mr Smith had grabbed or fired a gun.

Hayes was originally convicted of manslaughter in 2016 and sentenced to 25 years in prison, but the conviction was tossed out after the US Supreme Court outlawed non-unanimous verdicts. The jury in his first case voted 10-2 that he was guilty.

In January he was convicted again, this time unanimously, and he has been in a New Orleans jail awaiting his sentencing ever since.

Mr Smith’s teenage daughter, Lisa, gave a victim impact statement before Hayes was sentenced.

“Mr Hayes, you ruined my life,” she said. “You took my father away from me.”

She said that her mother had to relearn to walk after the shooting, and she said he had robbed her of having her father around for major life events. Racquel Smith, Mr Smith’s wife, was wounded in the shooting.

The original 2016 verdict included an attempted manslaughter conviction connected to Ms Smith’s shooting. Hayes was acquitted of that charge during the second trial in January.

Hayes’ mother, Dawn Mumphrey, spoke on his behalf, begging the judge for “mercy” and saying that her and her family’s lives have been “forever changed as well”.