Guns, expensive vehicles, alcohol and testosterone. Is there a more reliable recipe for the violence that ended Will Smith's life in a Lower Garden District neighborhood April 9? The conflict between Smith, a retired NFL defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, and Hayes, a defensive lineman for the semi-professional Crescent City Kings, started on Magazine Street. That's where Smith - whose blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit to drive - bumped or appeared to bump his Mercedes SUV into Hayes' Hummer H2. The conflict came to a bloody end at Sophie B. Wright Place near Felicity Street where Hayes, who was upset that Smith hadn't stopped to see if he'd damaged the Hummer, rammed into Smith's SUV and later fired eight shots into Smith's body.
If Cardell Hayes calmly killed Will Smith, manslaughter is a break
