There are more charges for a Georgia woman who allegedly murdered a man over a hit-and-run she wasn’t even really involved in. Hannah Payne, 22, now faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, according to CBS 46.
This stems from an incident back on May 7 in Clayton County. According to police, Payne witnessed a car accident between Kenneth Herring, 62, and a semi-truck. Herring allegedly caused the crash by running a red light in his Dodge Dakota, Detective Keon Hayward testified at a hearing.
Herring did stop at that scene for about 15-20 minutes, the investigator said. Another witness–a state corrections officer with medic training–saw the crash, and spoke to Herring, said the detective. Based on his training, this witness suggested that Herring was having a medical emergency–a diabetic shock or something of that nature. For example, Herring was disoriented, displayed red-orange eyes, and had walked around a truck several times.
“He was asking, ‘What happened? Who hit me? What’s going on?”‘ Hayward testified.
NEW: Bond has been revoked for Hannah Payne. She’s indicted on new charges of: malice murder, two counts of felony murder, agg. assault, false imprisonment, and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime for the shooting of Kenneth Herring. @cbs46 pic.twitter.com/j55lZ7F1mU
— Hayley Mason (@HayleyMasonTV) June 20, 2019
Herring drove off after the witness advised him to sit back in his truck, according to testimony. This witness asked Payne to get the fleeing vehicle’s tag. Payne called 911 and followed Herring in her car, caught up, and blocked him in with her Jeep even though the 911 operator told her to stay away because it was safer.
A confrontation ensued, and Payne ended up shooting the victim, police said.
“It just seems like it’s an unfortunate situation of a Good Samaritan trying to stop a person on a hit-and-run,” her attorney Matt Tucker told FOX 5 back in May. “She was in fear of her life. She felt that she needed to pull that gun to defend herself.”
He didn’t immediately respond to a Law&Crime request for comment.
Prosecutors, needless to say, view what happened quite differently.
“She’s using deadly force; she wasn’t faced with deadly force,” District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson said last month. “You cannot claim self-defense and use deadly force unless you’re not the initial aggressor — she is.”
Herring’s widow, Christine Herring, responded to the news that the new charges meant Payne would no longer be out on bond.
“That is awesome. That’s all I got to say,” she said. “She was really, really wrong for what she did.”
[Screengrab via FOX 5 Atlanta]
