Photo: Clayton County Sheriff's Office
A Georgia woman has learned her fate after she was convicted of killing a 62-year-old Black driver over a hit-and-run crash. Hannah Payne 25, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole Friday morning (December 15) in Clayton County Superior Court.
According to WAGA, it took a jury two hours to convict Payne for chasing down and fatally shooting Kenneth Herring on Tuesday (December 12). She was found guilty of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, and three charges of weapons possession during the commission of a felony.
A judge ruled Payne will serve a consecutive eight years for the false imprisonment and an additional five years for the weapons charges.
Prosecutors said Herring hit a semi-truck before driving off in May 2019. Payne, who witnessed the crash, followed the Black man in her vehicle despite 911 callers repeatedly ordering her not to pursue him. She was never involved in the crash.
When the woman caught up with the 62-year-old driver, Payne confronted and detained Herring before ultimately shooting him. When questioned by police about the murder, she told investigators Herring accidentally shot himself.
Payne's legal team claims their client was acting in self-defense, alleging Herring started attacking her after she confronted him. Jurors heard 911 calls, audio recordings from Payne's police interrogation, and testimony from both witnesses and the defendant before unanimously rejecting the defense.
"Sixty-two-year-old Kenneth Herring, who was unarmed and minding his own business, was chased down, detained, shot, and murdered by this defendant," Clayton County Assistant District Attorney Nigel Hunter said. "You don’t get the death penalty for committing a traffic infraction."
Herring's family told reporters they waited four years for this verdict.
“When I heard the first verdict tears started rolling down my face because at that moment I felt relief,” Jacqueline Herring, one of the victim's sisters, said.
During Friday's sentencing, one of the prosecutors said race was never a factor in both the case and the murder trial.
"The state and myself have never once made this case about race," she said. "We did not say anything about race throughout this trial. We just have a community that we represent that needs peace and needs healing… over and over and over again, whether it’s aimed at this defendant or not."
The attorney continued, “We do want this case to be about Mr. Herring and this defendant. Mr. Herring was a human worthy of saving.”
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