A Georgia woman attempted to make a citizen’s arrest and shot a road user to death. Now, she will spend half a century behind bars.
Clayton County Superior Court Judge Jewel C. Scott sentenced Hannah Payne, 25, to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of 62-year-old Kenneth Herring. After two hours of deliberation, Payne was found guilty and convicted by a jury of two counts of felony murder, one count each of malice murder, aggravated assault, and false imprisonment, and three counts of possession of a weapon during a crime.
“Whatever the court gives her, which should be life without parole, she deserves more,” stated the victim’s brother, Keith Herring, according to WSB-TV2.
On May 7, 2019, Payne witnessed a hit-and-run after Herring, who had a red traffic light, ran through the intersection of Clark Howell Highway near I-285, which caused a minor crash with another road user. Witnesses told authorities that the victim got out of his truck, pacing around for a few minutes before raving his engine and driving away from the scene. Meanwhile, a state corrections officer who was trained as a medic had initially assessed Herring and suspected the victim was inebriated, having a medical emergency, and could be suffering from a diabetic shock.
Next, Payne called 911 and told the dispatch she needed to pursue Herring’s truck. Despite a multitude of warnings by the dispatch telling the defendant to desist from the car chase, Payne persisted until she aggressively cut off the victim. According to prosecutors, the defendant immediately started cursing and punching the victim through his window before fatally shooting him several times while seated in his driver’s seat.
On the other hand, Payne testified on the stand that she shot Herring in self-defense.
“I pulled it out and immediately started trying to just continue to push against the door with it — like push it away from him. He grabbed my hand with the gun in it. As he’s pulling it is when it — the trigger went off. After it went off, my entire body kind of fell backwards,” said Payne to the jury during the trial, reported Law & Crime.
After going through several witness statements and video footage of the incident, the jury didn’t buy it.
Payne will be eligible for parole after serving 43 years in prison. Furthermore, Scott sentenced the defendant to an additional 15 years for the false imprisonment and possession of firearm charges. She was ordered to serve both terms consecutively.
Leave a Reply