Jurors found Hannah Payne guilty of felony murder, malice murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and three weapons counts in the shooting death of Kenneth Herring.
A Georgia jury this week convicted a bystander who chased down a Black man and shot him to death after a 2019 traffic incident.
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, it took Clayton County jurors two hours Tuesday to find Hannah Payne, 25, guilty of felony murder, malice murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and three counts of weapons possession during a crime in the death of 62-year-old Kenneth Herring.
Herring’s family said they had been waiting four years for this day, and his sisters were overcome with emotion as they exited the courtroom.
“When I heard the first verdict, I knew we weren’t supposed to show signs,” said Jacqueline Herring, “but tears just started rolling down my face because at that moment, I felt a relief that came over.”
Payne shot Herring after witnessing him hit another car and flee in May 2019. Prosecutors said she was playing cop after leaving the scene of a wreck she was not involved in and pursuing Herring before getting into an argument with him and firing the fatal shot.
Herring “was unarmed and minding his own business,” Clayton County Assistant District Attorney Nigel Hunter told jurors, when he “was chased down, detained, shot and murdered by this defendant.”
However, the defense claimed Payne was acting in self-defense because Herring allegedly started attacking her after she confronted him.
Throughout the trial, jurors heard evidence that included 911 calls, Payne’s police interrogation and witness testimony.
Payne took the stand in her defense on the fourth day of her murder trial, and her attorney, Matt Tucker, asked her to recount the events leading up to her following, then shooting, Herring.
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She said a state police officer at the initial accident site informed her and another witness that Herring was intoxicated. At some point, Herring began revving his engine and pulling away from the scene.
Payne claimed she was on the phone at the time with a 911 operator who inquired whether she had been able to obtain his license plate number. She said she got in her car when she discovered she hadn’t and believed no one else had.
She said in court that Terry Robinson, whom she mistook for a state cop, instructed her to “go,” implying he wanted her to follow Herring.
“You don’t get the death penalty for committing a traffic infraction,” said Hunter, Fox 5 reported.
Payne’s sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday.
“The state did its job,” said Vicky Herring, the slain man’s youngest sister after the verdict, “and the jury did its job.”
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