A Fayetteville woman was found guilty of murder Tuesday in the shooting death of a man who left the scene of a Clayton County hit-and-run crash in 2019, officials said.
Hannah Renea Payne was convicted of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in a Clayton courtroom. As the verdict was being read, Payne began to cry.
During the trial, prosecutors argued that Payne killed 62-year-old Kenneth Herring over what should have been a traffic citation, Channel 2 Action News reported.
“And you don’t get the death penalty for committing a traffic infraction,” Assistant District Attorney Nigel Hunter told the jury.
On May 7, 2019, Payne decided to follow Herring’s pickup truck after she saw it hit another vehicle near Clark Howell Highway and Ga. 85, Clayton police said at the time. Payne, who was 21 years old at the time, called 911 before following the truck about a mile to the intersection of Riverdale Road and Forest Parkway.
She then blocked the driver, who prosecutors said may have been having a medical episode, with her Jeep and got out of her vehicle to confront him with her gun in hand, police said. At some point, Payne fatally shot Herring, who was unarmed.
Prosecutors also said Payne ignored the instructions of 911 dispatchers who told her to stay at the scene of the initial hit-and-run and not to engage the other driver. After the shooting, a witness recorded a video that appeared to show Payne changing her clothes before police arrived.
Payne’s attorney, Matt Tucker, insisted she was trying to get Herring’s tag number, according to Channel 2. He said when Payne got out of her car to confront Herring, she wanted to tell him to return to the scene of the crash.
“He’s grabbing, he’s pulling her and she says, ‘I got a gun and I will shoot you,’” Tucker told the jury.
Tucker claimed Herring started punching Payne and that he struggled for Payne’s gun, eventually pulling the trigger and striking himself. Prosecutors argued that account was not accurate, and several witnesses testified that Payne was the aggressor, according to the news station.
“Though this conviction will not bring Mr. Herring back, we hope his loved ones can rest easier knowing that we were able to secure justice in his name,” District Attorney Tasha Mosley said in a statement.
Payne is scheduled to be sentenced Friday morning.
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