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UPDATE

Cardell Hayes has been granted bond, but may not walk today. WGNO Reporter Peyton LoCicero spent the morning in the courtroom and sent back the following information.

Hayes bond was set at $150,000 for the manslaughter charge and $50,000 for the attempted manslaughter charge.

Hayes is currently being held at the Elayn Hunt Correctional Center in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. He must be transferred to Orleans Parish Prison, where bond payment will be arranged.

At that point, if bond is paid, Cardell Hayes may walk out of jail, with stipulations.

More information to come soon. Check back for updates.

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Cardell Hayes could be released from jail today. He is the man accused of killing former Saints star, Will Smith and shooting his wife, Raquel Smith.

This morning, Thursday, March 18, 2021, at 9:00 A.M., we are heading back to the courtroom and expecting the judge to finally decide if Cardell Hayes’s bond will be set, and at what price.

On March 4, we were in the courtroom when the judge postponed the hearing. She did so after hearing testimony from Will Smith’s widowed wife and the State Attorneys and from Haye’s representation.

The judge said that it’s only fair that she reviews the case before making a decision on whether or not to grant bail.

The bond hearing was supposed to be earlier this week, on Tuesday but, both prosecutors and defense attorneys asked for the hearing to be pushed back to March 18.

The reason Hayes is getting a new trial is that he was convicted with a guilty verdict by a non-unanimous jury but, the split verdict was recently overturned by the U.S Supreme Court. Meaning, Hayes must receive a new trial.

At the previous bond hearing, Hayes’s attorneys gave examples to the judge of other similar trials where bail price was set around $250,000 to $300,000, which is what they were asking Hayes’ bond to be set at or near that amount.

Also, for the new trial, Hayes will be tried for one count of manslaughter and a second count of attempted manslaughter. Instead of what he was originally convicted of; second-degree murder.