Man sentenced to 25 years in fatal shooting of Saints star Will Smith in 2016

April 25 (UPI) -- The man who was convicted in January of killing New Orleans Saints defensive end Will Smith was sentenced Thursday to 25 years in prison for manslaughter.

Cardell Hayes, who already has spent five years behind bars, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for manslaughter, with credit for time served, which totals to eight years.

He will have to serve 13 years with the credited time before he can be considered eligible for parole. He previously faced up to 40 years for the charges.

A jury in January found him guilty of manslaughter with a firearm and not guilty on count of attempted manslaughter of Smith's wife, Racquel, who was injured in the shooting.

It was the second time Hayes faced trial in the case after he was granted a retrial under Louisiana's unanimous jury law.

A jury in 2016 voted to convict him in a 10-2 verdict. The Supreme Court in 2020 ruled non-unanimous jury decisions unconstitutional, making Hayes and other defendants in trials with non-unanimous verdicts eligible for another trial.

Witnesses testified that, in 2016, Hayes slammed his vehicle into Smith after Smith had bumped into Hayes. The two men exited their vehicles and confronted each other. At one point, Smith returned to his vehicle, and Hayes shot Smith eight times in the back and side.

Racquel Smith was struck in the leg by a bullet.

Smith, who was 34 when he was killed, played defensive end for the Saints from 2004 to 2013, helping them win the Super Bowl by a 31-17 score over the Indianapolis Colts in 2010.

The Saints posthumously inducted Smith into its Hall of Fame in 2016 and Saints Ring of Honor in 2019.