As New Orleanians and football fans continue to reflect on the slaying of former Saints player Will Smith, the Louisiana State Police said in a statement Saturday afternoon (April 16) there is "no legal basis" for that agency to strip away the New Orleans Police Department's authority over the investigation into the fatal shooting.
The statement comes in response to a request from John Fuller, then-defense attorney for accused shooter Cardell Hayes, in which Fuller contacted State Police Major Layne Barnum asking for "investigative assistance" into the events leading up the April 9 shooting.