NEW ORLEANS -- Pierre Thomas described witnessing the April 9 death of his friend and former New Orleans Saints teammate Will Smith on Wednesday as testimony continued in the murder trial of the man who shot Smith, Cardell Hayes.
"I stood there in shock, telling myself, 'That didn't happen. He didn't just kill one of my friends,'" said Thomas, a longtime former Saints running back. He was not involved in the altercation that led to Smith's shooting because he was in a car driving farther ahead - but he said he arrived in time to see the heated argument among Smith, Hayes and other parties, as well as most of the shots fired by Hayes.