Georgia woman fights murder case after killing stranger in citizen's arrest

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Georgia woman found guilty on all counts for citizen's arrest murder

Hannah Payne, 25, was found guilty on Tuesday of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and three weapons possession charges in the death of 62-year-old Kenneth Herring.

A woman who chased down and killed a 62-year-old man who caused a minor traffic crash by running a red light claims she never intended to shoot him – only to take down his license plate number for 911 dispatchers. 

However, witnesses told a different story at 25-year-old Hannah Payne's murder trial, telling jurors that the woman cut off Kenneth Herring with her car, jumped out and punched him after the May 7, 2019 collision. 

Then, witnesses said, she brandished her hip-holstered gun, threatened to shoot Herring twice and "immediately" did so, per FOX 5 Atlanta. 

"You don’t get the death penalty for committing a traffic infraction," Nigel Hunter, a Clayton County assistant district attorney, said in his closing arguments.

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Hannah Payne, 25, was found guilty on Tuesday of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and three weapons possession charges in the death of 62-year-old Kenneth Herring. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

On Tuesday, Payne was convicted on felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment and weapons possession charges in a Clayton County court, the outlet reported. 

The jury reportedly took just two hours to render the verdict. The woman looked down and sobbed as it was read, per FOX 5.

Both Payne and witnesses agreed she drew her gun – but during her Monday testimony, she claimed she never intended to fire. Instead, she claimed, Herring shot himself in a struggle for the weapon. 

Payne's car was not involved in the crash at the center of the deadly altercation. She reportedly pulled over to dial 911 after witnessing Herring run a red light in his Dodge Dakota pickup truck and cause a minor crash with a semi-truck. 

Herring waited at the scene of the crash for 15 to 20 minutes before driving away, according to Law & Crime. 

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Hannah Payne wept as the Clayton County jury handed down its verdict on Tuesday. (Fox 5 Atlanta)

At that time, a state corrections officer who also witnessed the crash testified, he displayed symptoms of a diabetic shock – his eyes were red-orange, he appeared disoriented and he reportedly circled his truck several times. 

Payne testified that the corrections officer told her the man was "OK, but... definitely inebriated" as they waited at the scene. 

Per her testimony, this prompted Payne and the semi-truck driver to ask at the same time "Do you mean he's drunk?"  

Despite being told a total of four times by 911 operators not to do so, she pursued Herring in her Jeep after he left the scene of the crash after realizing no one at the scene had taken down his license plate number. 

"OK, so you couldn’t get a tag number?" a 911 dispatcher asked, per FOX 5.  

"No, but I’m catching up to him right now," Payne responded.

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Kenneth Herring, 62, was shot dead by Hannah Payne, 25, at a Clayton County intersection in Georgia on May 7, 2019, after he drove away from the scene of a minor car crash. (FOX 5 Atlanta)

"OK, ma’am we actually do not want you to chase him, we just want you to be safe," the dispatcher said in the recording.

Payne claimed in her testimony that Herring was revving his engine as he pulled away. 

"He is drunk. I’m not," Payne told the dispatcher, per recordings of her two 911 calls played in court. "I’m sorry, but I’m here to tell you I’m not not going to follow him because he is going to cause an accident."

Payne would tell the court she was "under the impression, with having 911 on the phone, that [she] would be a messenger." She also told the court that she understood the dispatcher's instructions to disengage as "suggestions." 

Payne confronted Herring after catching up with him at an intersection, telling him to return to the scene of the crash. 

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Kenneth Herring's family was photographed embracing after hearing Hannah Payne's guilty verdict in a Clayton County court on Tuesday.

"We're loud, it's near an interstate, it's a busy road and I can't hear what he's saying to me. But as I'm getting closer to him, I hear him ask me who the f--- am I," Payne told the court.

She said he then knocked her phone out of her hand and later reached out of his truck to grab her by her shirt. He ripped the shirt with the force of his grab, she claimed, and dragged her along with his car when he "mashed the gas." 

The Georgia woman said she announced that she had a gun when the man refused to let go, and was forced to unholster it when he would not listen, she said. 

"I pulled it out and immediately started trying to just continue to push against the door with it — like push it away from him" she testified. 

Then, she claimed: "He grabbed my hand with the gun in it."

"As he’s pulling it is when it — the trigger went off," she continued. "After it went off, my entire body kind of fell backwards."

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Hannah Payne, 25, is seen outside Kenneth Herring's pickup truck shortly before shooting the man on May 7, 2019.

Based on witnesses' testimonies, prosecutors refuted the claim. 

"She’s using deadly force; she wasn’t faced with deadly force," District Attorney Tracy Graham Lawson said, per Law & Crime. "You cannot claim self-defense and use deadly force unless you’re not the initial aggressor – she is."

After shooting the man, per the recorded 911 calls, Payne asked that an ambulance be sent to the scene. 

In body camera footage captured by a responding police officer and played for jurors, Payne said that she "was overwhelmed," "scared" and "didn't really know what was going on" after the incident. 

"Clearly, trying to do the right thing is not the right answer," Payne said as she began to cry, per FOX 5. 

Payne's sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. Matt Tucker, Payne's defense attorney, asked the judge to poll every juror after they read their verdict. He could not be reached for comment at press time. 

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Hannah Payne's sentencing is scheduled for this Friday at 10 a.m. (Fox 5 Atlanta)

"This is not some killer, this is not some murder," Tucker said in his closing arguments. "She’s some young girl who got caught up in the wrong situation.

"In her mind, she was a young individual trying to help out," Tucker continued. "No good deed goes unpunished."

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Herring's family was photographed rejoicing after Payne's verdict was read, and told FOX 5 Atlanta that the Clayton County jury "did its job." 

"When I heard the first verdict, I knew we weren’t supposed to show signs, but tears just started rolling down my face because at that moment I felt a relief that came over," said Jacqueline Herring, one of Herring's sisters.