A vigilante sobbed in court as she was found guilty of murder after chasing and shooting an elderly man as he left the scene of an accident.
Hannah Payne, 24, cried with her head bowed as Judge Jewel C. Scott announced the guilty verdict Tuesday afternoon in Clayton County, Georgia.
Payne “acted like a police officer” and pursued 62-year-old Kenneth Herring in her vehicle after witnessing him have a minor collision with a tractor-trailer on May 7, 2019.
She cut him off and then jumped out of her car, punching Herring through his window before taking out the gun and killing him on the busy highway near the intersection of Riverdale Road and Forest Parkway on the outskirts of Atlanta.
“Kenneth Herring, who was unarmed and minding his own business, was pursued, captured, shot and murdered,” the lead prosecutor said during the state's closing arguments. “You do not face the death penalty for committing a traffic offense.”
A vigilante sobbed in court as she was found guilty of murder for chasing and shooting an elderly man as he tried to leave the scene of a minor car accident
Hannah Payne, 24, cried with her head bowed as Judge Jewel C. Scott announced the guilty verdict Tuesday afternoon
Payne was convicted of murdering Kenneth Herring, 62, following a minor traffic accident on May 7, 2019, that occurred on a busy highway near the intersection of Riverdale Road and Forest Parkway in Georgia
The Georgia woman was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, three counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony and one count each of premeditated murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.
Twelve Peach State jurors reached a verdict after deliberating for about 90 minutes, finding that Payne unlawfully assaulted and murdered Herring. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.
Payne took the stand Monday, insisting she never intended to fire a bullet with her pistol and claiming he shot himself during a struggle over the gun.
“I pulled it out and immediately tried to push it further against the door – like I was pushing it away from him,” she testified. “He grabbed my hand with the gun in it.”
“As he pulls it, the trigger is released,” she added. “After it started, my whole body fell backwards.”
But the state had used testimony and recordings during the trial to prove otherwise, alleging that Payne intentionally cut Herring off with her car, then jumped out and ran toward the man “very aggressively” before shouting profanities at him shouted at me.
She then allegedly began punching the startled man through his window before withdrawing her gun and threatening to shoot him twice, after which she “immediately” shot him.
“She uses deadly force; “She was not subjected to deadly force,” District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson said when she was initially charged with murder. “You cannot claim self-defense and use deadly force unless you are not the first attacker – she is.”
The Georgia woman was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, three counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony and one count each of premeditated murder, aggravated assault and false imprisonment
Payne, 21 at the time of the crime, is said to have “behaved like a police officer” and tried to stop Herring from leaving the scene of the accident.
Payne decided to follow his pickup truck after she saw it crash into a tractor-trailer near Clark Howell Highway on May 7, despite emergency dispatchers telling her to stay at the scene.
Herring's family described him as a hard-working man who was not a violent person
In 2019, Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge William H. West ruled at a preliminary hearing that there was probable cause to continue charges in the murder case against Payne.
Herring left the scene that day and appeared to be in the midst of a medical emergency, described by a witness as “probably like diabetic shock,” Clayton County Police Detective Keon Hayward testified.
“He was disoriented, he was asking what happened, who hit me, what was going on,” Hayward described.
Payne, who was not involved in the accident, followed Herring and blocked his car at an intersection about a mile away, where she confronted him.
Armed with a 9mm weapon, she ordered him to return to the scene of the accident and then pointed a pistol at him.
Payne's attorney, Matt Tucker, argued that an altercation between Payne and Herring “ended with her handgun being discharged,” fatally wounding Herring, WXIA-TV reported.
He said the shooting was an act of self-defense and described his client as a “good Samaritan” for blocking Herring's pickup truck with her Jeep after he saw Herring hit a tractor-trailer and try to kill her around 6:15 p.m. to drive away.
However, Clayton County District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson called that claim “dubious” because Georgia law only allows a “citizen's arrest” if the citizen is a witness to a crime. Lawson claimed the collision was a traffic offense.
She told the court: “You cannot plead self-defense and use deadly force unless you are not the original attacker – she is.”
Herring's estranged wife, Christine, said her husband was not the attacker and said witnesses saw Payne hit her husband three times as he sat disoriented in his car
Herring allegedly collided with a tractor-trailer near the intersection of Riverdale Road and Forest Parkway in Clayton County and attempted to drive away, but was blocked by Payne's Jeep
Police in Georgia say Payne shot Herring in the stomach after she blocked his Dodge pickup with her Jeep following the crash on May 7, 2019 (pictured)
“I guess she thinks she's from the police or wants to be a police officer…she locked him up and he's got nothing.” [he is unarmed]and then she shoots him.'
Herring's wife, Christine, described the killing as vigilantism and claimed there was a racist element, comparing the shooting to the death of Trayvon Martin.
She said at a press conference afterwards: “I know he had a diabetic attack because he didn't just run from the scene. “I knew he was trying to get to the hospital.
“I had the feeling. He was a hardworking man, he stayed true to himself. He's not a violent man, so when the accident happened with her, I knew that wasn't true.
She said her husband was not the attacker because he couldn't get out of his truck because she blocked him.
“I was wondering why she followed him and didn't do what the 911 dispatcher said, gave herself the 911 number and stayed behind.” I wondered why she followed him all the way, blocked and killed him.'
“They said she hit him three times in the face. She tried to act like the police.'
Detective Hayward claimed Herring remained at the scene of the accident for approximately 18 to 20 minutes before leaving.
Witnesses claimed Payne approached Herring's car and “repeatedly punched” him through the driver's side window while he was behind the wheel before the gun was fired.
Payne broke down as the defense argued that Herring had a medical seizure while driving away from the scene of an accident in 2019
Payne appeared emotional at a hearing in 2019 when a Clayton County District Court judge ruled there was probable cause to pursue the murder charge against her
Hayward also described how Payne called 911 as she followed Herring and remained on the line during the episode.
The defense claimed that the phone was knocked out of her hand while in the background she can be heard telling Herring, “Get out of the car, get out of the car, get out of the damn car.”
Hayward testified that when she picked up the phone again, she told the 911 dispatcher, “He just shot himself with my gun.”
Tucker claimed that Payne received “mixed communication” from 911 dispatchers, telling her to stay at the scene but also to get the vehicle registration number as Herring left.
He said: “Throughout the event Ms Payne was compliant, remaining at the scene and dialing 911.”
“She did everything she felt was necessary to ensure that this hit-and-run was handled properly and that her actions were handled properly.”