Witness says Will Smith attacked alleged killer prior to shooting

Kevin O'Neal, a friend of Will Smith's alleged killer, Cardell Hayes, said the former New Orleans Saints defensive end was the instigating party prior to his death.

Smith was shot dead on April 9 in New Orleans, following a crash between the two parties. O'Neal was a passenger in Hayes' vehicle at the time of the incident and testified in favor of his friend Thursday, speaking directly to Smith's widow, Racquel.

"Did her husband bring it by his own demise?" O'Neal said via ESPN's Mike Triplett. "I'm just asking. He attacked this man (Hayes) from the beginning to the end of that situation. At no point in time did I ever see this man (Hayes) irate or aggressive with anyone out there. At no point in time, my God's honest truth, did I ever see (Hayes) get angry."

Hayes is claiming that he acted in self-defense, and O'Neal continued to state that Smith was the aggressor prior to the shooting.

"Before anyone was shot, Mr. Hayes was under attack as well as myself. Point blank period," O'Neal said.