Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is not intended for all audiences.

Listener discretion is advised.

He was pulling my wrists, and he pulled me in the vehicle, and he's reaching and he's pulling.

When you are being held against your.

Will and you have no idea what's ahead of you, it felt like it lasted forever.

Oh boy, you guys not gonna like this one.

The misogyny does run thick here at Sword Scale Enjoy.

There is a line between a man and a monster.

And when I say man, I'm also obviously talking about you.

Ladies.

You're not immune from this, But that line is thinner than we'd like to believe.

Most people will never cross it, living their lives without ever feeling the sharp edge of true darkness.

But under the right or perhaps the wrong circumstances, even the most ordinary person can unravel.

Just look at my Facebook feed.

A moment of rage, desperation, or even fear can crack something deep inside, something buried, unleashing a version of themselves they never thought possible.

Not every killer is born a monster.

Some are made shaped by pressure, by pain, by a perfect storm of events that turn any human into something unrecognizable.

That's the whole point we've been trying to make here for eleven years.

It's not about true crime, it's about human nature, what makes you tick, and once that line is crossed, there is no going back.

Well, I would like to say on May seven, twenty nineteen, I had no idea that when I called my brother that I would be inundated with phone calls from law enforcement from Clayton County, Georgia.

I immediately panicked and feared the worst.

I had no intention on answering those calls.

Due to fear, I answered the phone by mistake, and within five minutes my wife called me and told me there was a deputy at the house to see me.

My life from that point has never been the same.

The following day, I found myself repeating to my wife, I do not know how I'm going to tell my parents or explain to them how this happened.

The voice you just heard belonged to a man named Keith Herring.

He was speaking about an incident involving his older brother, Kenneth.

On the evening of May seventh, twenty nineteen, sixty two year old Kenneth Herring was driving on a busy Highway in Clayton County near Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, an airport I know very very well at some point he drove into an intersection that he shouldn't have.

The story begins with Kenneth Harry and his car driving them all and there's pretty much no doubt that he runs a red black near Forest Parkway through Riverdale Road when he runs that red light, and another tractor trailer were coming toward that intercession, and mister Herring hits the trailer and everybody pulls off.

To the side to deal with the fact that there's just been a traffic accident.

Several other motorists saw the crash unfold and some pulled over to help, including Georgia Correctional officer named Terry Robinson.

Did you witness a vehicle collision on May nineteen, Yes, ma'am?

And where did that collision occur?

Clark Howell and Forest Parkway.

As we were approaching the light, the light was green.

The vehicles were turning to the left and the truck I know, was turning right.

All of a sudden, I've seen this room vehicle come famn.

He decided the truck.

Jerry Robinson wasn't on duty at the time.

He wasn't a traffic copper Highway patrolman neither, but as a correctional officer, he took it upon himself to control the scene until the proper authorities could get there.

Now, what damages did you observe to the red maroon truck after the accident?

The front end of the heavily damage radiator forward, all water for leaking out, and everything was heavily damage to the front.

Because I was thinking that this can not go anywhere, I assumed that, hey, the vehicle was disabled.

The pickup truck was wrecked, practically totaled.

As for Kenneth Herring, he didn't appear to be injured, but he was somewhat dazed, and that's all.

The gentleman's kind of slumped over a little bit.

That's what made me pull over to see if heels okay, and I when I got a car, that's when I asked the gentleman's okay, and then just basically making sure that the gentleman's okay, that's when I called nine one one.

Kenneth was responsive, but there clearly was something wrong with him and he was possibly drunk.

After checking on Kenneth's well being, Terry Robinson called for help.

As it so happens that just happened to be one of the worst traffic days in that area.

Too.

Any file was shut.

Down because a battery.

Trump had called on fire, So law enforcement is kind of blocking the entrance.

And exits for two eighty five.

And then there's another accident somewhere else in that area.

So traffic is piled up, cars everywhere, no one can really get anywhere, and it's taking law enforcement a few moments to get to the sea.

More than twenty minutes had passed since Terry called nine to one one, No cops or emergency services had arrived, So Terry called again.

Clay in County nine one one, what is the location of your emergency carcle and Forest Corporate is being a rare call earlier though we had been over right twenty minutes round and.

Or no Hamlett that's thrown up.

It's this location.

And I can say the ball, a Rady coder and a semi tractor truck and none has told up at this moment of time.

Okay, I just get a call.

We already had someone on the way.

The dispatcher assured Terry that help was on the way.

Meanwhile, another witness to the crash also called.

Nine one one Clayton County.

Now one one one is the location of your emergency?

Yes, Pam, I'm w on Forest Parkway and Clark Howell Highway and.

There was just an accident.

I'm sure they've already called, but I was just I just witnessed it, and I just wanted to make sure that.

I, I guess called the police as well.

In case they didn't.

What were the kind of vehicles?

And Vogue, It's a red Dodge pickup truck.

I think it's a Dakota ver and a semi was involved and the red Dakota of brandy red light and plammed into the side of the semi.

Okay, and what's your name?

Funny ms Hannah Anna last name, It's Payne p A.

Y n E.

Terry and the other witness continued to wait.

As they did, they noticed something strange.

Kenneth Herring had climbed out of his truck and began aimlessly wandering around.

Mister Harry appeared somewhat confused after the accident, kept saying.

Who hit me?

What's happening things along those lines, and then started saying things like I didn't do anything wrong.

Kenneth wandered in circles a few times.

Then he got back behind the wheel of his truck and tried to restart the engine.

He got back into the truck when I'm calling.

He got through the truck and I said, well, sir, you okay like that, and he's I'm ready to go, like I said, so you can't go anywhere.

You know, I can't go anywhere, And all of a sudden he turned on the vehicle and I'm like, well, sir, you can't do anything.

You can't move, you can't move, and that's when he put it in, put it in a dry and floored it.

Kenneth sped off Terry, while still on the phone with the nine to one one dispatcher, watched as the damaged pickup disappeared down the highway.

The reason why I'm answering man, because this is the drama who called the accident.

I think he's uncared.

Uh, something's going on with him, and so the thing, if I were trying to tell him, was a turn of the gas off from the most He's not following the name so that's why I'm master.

If he's moving it here, he's going to drive off.

Man, he's driving off.

He's driving off.

Take a picture of driving like.

Take a picture.

Quack quick, wait wait quick, he's driving off.

He's driving off.

Yeah, he's heading for a s he's heading for Riverdale Road.

He has the all the black gentleman, gray hair, blue shirt on and front end damage, heaving the front end damage in front.

Tame lead.

I knew he was coming wrong with it, gay, I knew it.

As Kenneth had fled the scene, the other witness, Hannah Pain, didn't hesitate.

She jumped into her jeep Wrangler and took off after him.

Okay, good, cool, God, Now I love the driver who was and she's going to take a picture of hoping that the lady.

The lady in the street was almost in the recident.

So she turned around and she went after him.

So she's going to take a picture of the three ears and stuff.

As Hannah pursued Kenneth, she stayed on the phone with the nine to one one dispatcher and relayed his movements.

Now one one with the location of.

Yes, ma'am, I'm on cars Powell.

It's Worth Parkway, the section I actually.

Called twenty minutes ago for an accident, and no one has done up yet.

But I am running the intension that the guy that caused the accident, he ran the red bike, is drunk and.

He got me back in his car and he's looking like he's trying to drive away.

Hey, can you get a sad humper.

Hold on driving away?

Her shots Dakota Hold, Okay, so he is going we down park No.

Sorry, now Court Parkway.

So you couldn't get the same number.

No, but I'm patting helping him right now.

Hannah followed Kenneth and eventually caught up to him.

What happened next left several other drivers stunned and horrified.

Now did you see any sort of struggle between the driver of the car that she's standing at in this pain?

Yes, okay, describe what you.

Saw, just like a little pushing back and forth.

What else happens next?

I ended up pulling on my phone and record.

Honestly, I ain't to say it like this, but that was like another dig in Clayton County.

And as I was recording, I heard a gunshot.

On May seventh, twenty nineteen, a gunshot echoed through the traffic on Riverdale Road in Clayton County, Georgia.

Drivers hit their brakes, their heads whipping towards a sound.

At first, it seemed like just another case of road rage until they saw the blood.

Someone was shot, someone was dying.

On the evening of May seventh, twenty nineteen, sixty two year old Kenneth Herring caused a traffic accident on a busy highway in Clayton County, Georgia.

He ran a red light, driving his pickup truck headfirst into the side of a tractor trailer.

The semi driver was unharmed, but witnesses noticed something about Kenneth, something off.

He seemed confused, maybe even drunk.

Among those who stopped to help was an off duty correctional officer named Terry Robinson.

Was the vehicle operable at the time.

It wasn't good law, but we see it happened that he was leaving to turn it on and leave the scene.

He realized at some point mister Robson did that, mister Harry kind of circling his vehicle.

He didn't know what's going on.

He might end in his car and drive somewhere.

I think he's going to leave the state, And sure enough, mister Harry does get in his vehicle and he did try it.

About twenty minutes after the accident, Kenneth did something unexpected.

He climbed back into his truck and sped away.

A short time later, and just a couple of miles down the road, a frantic driver flagged down a police sergeant.

Yes, I was flagged down by a citizen that informed me there had in a vehicle accident and someone.

Had been shot.

When you first arrived, kind of describe what you initially see.

There's a large crowd of people, obviously the two vehicles that appeared to have collided, and there were other vehicles pulled over to the side to I guess assist with the situation, and multiple witnesses pointing to a red pickup truck and that the man inside had been shot.

The officer was directed to Kenneth's truck.

Inside, Kenneth was unresponsive, slumped in the driver's seat, bleeding from a gunshot wound to his abdomen.

And what did you do?

We're trying to identify where his gunshot wound was and basically what was going on with him as long as trying to get the driver's side door open.

And was a paramedics or empty or an ambulance?

Requested, Yes, they were?

And were there also civilians assisting you with mister Herring?

Yes, before the paramedics arrived.

Did mister Herring ever say anything while you were there?

When paramedics arrived at the scene, they rushed Kenneth to the hospital, but it was too late.

Kenneth Herring, a father, a husband, a brother, and a son, was gone.

His death was sudden, violent, and completely unexpected.

His family was devastated.

I no longer have a big brother.

He called me biscuit head all my life because from a little kid, every time my mom would get up every morning to make fresh biscuits, I would be there as the baby.

I got the first one, and so as I got older, he would then just call me biscuit.

I won't get to hear that anymore.

We won't get to.

Laugh at him because he couldn't dance, but he tried.

No more Christmas, no more birthdays, no more family gather his grandchildren.

Well, no, yes, no children, fair, they don't have a bother anymore.

After Kenneth had died, an autopsy was performed to determine the cause and manner of his death.

And did you recover any projectiles from mister Harry's body.

Yes, So the bullet traveled through the abdomen.

It struck the small intestine, the large intestine, the colon, and the left hiding.

Then it came to rest just beneath the skin of the left side of the back.

It resulted in a massive loss of blood.

And what was the called the death in mister Harry's case guns one of the abdomen And what was the matter of death in mister Herring's homicide?

Kenneth Herring had been shot to death in his own truck on the side of a Clayton County highway.

When police arrived, there was no mystery about who pulled the trigger.

The shooter confessed right then and there.

Did you do anything to see if you could determine who had fired a shot?

Yes, I asked who shot him?

And that's when Miss Payne stated I did, and handed me her firearm, her license and her Georgia concealed carry permit.

The shooter was twenty one year old Hannah Payne.

She had witnessed the initial traffic accident and when Kenneth fled, she made the fateful decision to follow him.

When she first witnessed the crash, Hannah was on her way home from her job as a property manager.

Typically I'm in the field.

I go from property to property, either collecting rent, sometimes walking vacant and or abandoned apartments that could potentially be under construction.

And I would show vacant apartments to potential renters.

And because you were going to all these different places to meet people you don't know, did you do anything for your safety?

I did?

And what was that.

I registered for a concealed carry permit, and when I received it, I purchased a firearm.

Several hours after she admitted to shooting, Kenneth Andna sat down with Clayton County detectives.

They wanted to hear her side of the story.

According to Hannah, when she caught up to Kenneth, she got out of her jeep and approached the truck.

She told him he needed to return to the scene of the crash.

That's when she claimed Kenneth grabbed her wrist and tried pulling her into the truck through the driver's side window.

We started along action f and when he pushed again that he ran into my tired I wasn't washing him, I was trying to avoid him, and he had.

Driving along behind my shirt.

Hannah told detectives that Kenneth grabbed and ripped at her shirt as she struggled to break free.

As she fought back, Kenneth's truck lurched forward, crashing into her parked jeep.

Black my shirt, someone grabbed.

I don't, honestly, I don't.

I know, I don't remember how myself culture.

Hannah claimed she had no memory of actually pulling the trigger.

As for the evidence, Hannah did have some minor bruising and scratches on her body, and her shirt was nearly torn in half, so there were signs of a struggle.

But why would Kenneth attack her?

Why would he try to drag her into his truck?

Was he just a drunk and angry man that day or was there something else to this story?

Now, when you made contact with the driver in the maroon truck, what were your observations of him physically.

Physically the scene that he was again out of it, I like send loads of his eyes for a glassy effect, and again not being a professional adopt or anything just saying that was he going through a diabetic situation or whatever.

I didn't smell any alcohol on a sort, but I just noticed that the gentleman.

Was out of it.

So you didn't smell an alcohol, No.

I did not.

A key witness to the initial traffic accident was an off duty correctional officer who happened to work at the jail house infirmary.

When the officer observed Kenneth after the crash, he concluded fairly quickly that Kenneth wasn't drunk at all, but was suffering from some kind of medical emergency like diabetic shock.

You notified Detective More that he was walking pretty normal, but he reminded you of a person like you would like from when I was working in the infirmary and stuff.

These guys, you know when you're a diabetic and you go into shock and your mindset, you know, That's what it reminded me of.

He kept asking me what day it was and stuff like that, and I said, okay, sir, yes, So based on your observation of mister Herring on that day and your experience in working in the infirmary at the drem Defirment of Corrections, did you believe mister Herring was having a suffering from a medical condition.

Yes.

Later on investigators did confirm that Kenneth was a diabetic and that he relied on insulin.

And are you related to Kenneth Herring?

Yes?

And how were you related to Kenneth Harring?

I'm his baby's sister.

In the time that you spent around Kenneth, were you ever aware of any medical conditions that Kenneth had?

I knew, I know that he was a diabetic severely.

Were you aware of any type of medications or anything that he had to do in order to manage his severe diabetes?

He was insulindependent.

Although Kenneth's medical condition was clear, the autopsy couldn't confirm if he was suffering from diabetic shock at the time of his death.

When a person dies, the blood sugar continues to be metabolized very very quickly.

So even in a person whose blood sugar.

Was normal at their time of death, that test would show low blood sugar.

That's just the normal course of what we call post warning change.

So if his blood sugar was already low, there's no way for me to differentiate if he had a low blood sugar at the time of death versus the normal postmar a lowering of the blood sugar.

While the autopsy couldn't verify diabetic shock, it could reveal if Kenneth was intoxicated on the day he died.

So the comprehensive blood screen at the Georgia Bureau Investigation tests for all the major and common drugs of abuse, and there are hundreds of different additional drugs that the panel covers.

And you say everything was negative, yes, And what about the blood alcohol kind thing?

It was negative as well.

The results were clear kenneth hering was not high, he was not drunk, and it was likely that he'd been in a state of diabetic shock when he crashed.

When Kenneth's wife was questioned, she gave a plausible explanation for why Kenneth fled the scene of the accident.

You probably knew he needed medical attention, didn't have time to wait for an ambulance that never came.

And I know he was having a diabetic episode because he don't just run off the scene.

I knew he was trying to get to the hospital.

With this new information and a pained self defense story started to crumble.

Diabetic shock doesn't cause aggression.

It usually causes dizziness, confusion, and also weakness.

Also, Hannah's version of events didn't match what multiple witnesses saw that day.

Was getting off work.

As I was approaching Forest Parkway.

I was making a lift off of Lott of Self Parkway.

As I was making my left and getting into the far right lane, Miss Hannah was coming up Forest Parkway.

She was coming from the end off of Highway to five, and she almost ran me off the row.

She was speeding.

She's going very fast.

When Hannah chased after Kenneth, she didn't just follow him.

She sped after him at a reckless pace, weaving in and out of traffic, nearly running other drivers off the road.

When she caught up, she used a merging lane to block him.

Kenneth was trapped.

He had nowhere to go.

And she blocked him from driving.

So he about to be raped.

And it caught my intention because it was like really at years, so it was just road rage at the time.

And then had a woman.

Popped out of the car and she said about the truck, do.

You have a bunch of times.

Several witnesses saw what happened next.

They watched as Hannah got out of her jeep and aggressively approached Kenneth's window.

I saw her at the driver's side door of the vehicle of yelling obscenities for the man, so get out of the car.

And it was like she was trying to fight with the window.

And when you say she was trying to fight him through the window, what did you actually see.

I just saw her hand moving, you know, get out of the car, motherfucker doing all this.

I never saw anyone's hands come out of the window, perfect, But I didn't see her at the window.

She got out of her jeep and she immediately went to the truck driver's side yelling and beginning swinging and hitting the man that was in the driver's side.

Of the truck.

What anything did you hear her say?

I heard her, so you can get the f out of the car.

She just kept cussing.

I don't get the f out of the car now.

Were you able to see mister Harry inside of his vehicle during this incident?

Yes?

And what did you observe of mister Harry?

He looked confused.

Were you able to see what the driver, what the man in the truck was doing.

Yeah, What could you see about him?

He was sitting there.

He getting raising the hands or anything.

He was just sitting there.

That's what made it got my attention because he wasn't reacting, So I thought that was kind of odd, just sitting there and allow somebody to punch.

Him like that.

Could you see any anything about the facial expressions or anything.

Like that on the driver of the truck.

He looked confused and shocked.

According to multiple witnesses, Hannah Pane had recklessly chased down an older man.

When she caught up to him, she blocked his truck and assaulted him.

She was punching the man in the truck repeatedly because his window was down, and she just kept punching him over and over and over, and the truck tried to go forward and there was impact.

Witnesses saw Hannah yelling and striking Kenneth when his truck suddenly lurched forward, slamming into her jeep.

She must have been irate about that.

The logical assumption is that Kenneth had put the truck in drive and hit the gas.

Desperate to escape the enraged stranger shouting at him through his window, she backed away.

I could see the gun on her heel, and she pulled the gun out after punching him repeatedly and asked him to get out of the car.

She was pointing the gun at him, towing him to get out the car.

Get out the car.

She pulled out a gun and a lot of try so people we moved heavy honking to the head out of the way.

Or what if anything else?

Did you see her pull a gun?

After she brought the gun, she shot him and she said, now you.

Need an ambulance.

After Kenneth's truck crashed into Hannah's cheap Hannah pulled out her gun and a single shot was fired.

Soon after, one of the witnesses called nine one one.

It was a morning light.

And then she stopped im.

Painting and went around him for no reason because it was coming.

And then he almost hit her because he did that.

So he breaks suddenly, but she got not hopped out her car, and then she poured out her gun and started screaming at him, and you know, like what the heck and student and she started hitting him.

Okay, you said she pulled out a guy, Yes, she too.

For time.

She saw him.

Unfortunately for Hannah, a key piece of evidence backed up the witnesses accounts.

The entire time she was chasing Kenneth, Hannah was on the phone with a nine to one one dispatcher.

There was recorded proof of her actions.

Okay, so you couldn't get the same number.

No, but I'm tating helping him right now.

Okay, well, we actually do not want you to chase him.

We just want need to be safe.

Understand him, I understand.

I'm just to get the pack number, nothing else, but I am going west down for Its Parkway and.

Almost up to him.

Hannah had gotten close enough to read Kenneth's license plate number to the dispatcher, but when the dispatcher told her to turn around and go back to the scene of the accident, she refused.

If you can go back to that location where the incident happened, and because someone is baking on the way to you guys, now.

Okay, well there's a police officer there, but he is drunk.

I'm not.

I'm not.

I'm sorry that I'm here to tell you I'm not not gonna follow him because he is going to cause another accident.

So I won't say behind him and tell an officer to get to us.

You know, that's what I want.

I want you guys to go back to his location where it happened, and an officer will be at them momentarily.

Okay, I'm not.

Ma'am.

Ma'am, ma'am, Yeah, ma'am.

He pulled the trigger of my gun in my hand.

Why why ma'am.

To follow him?

Okay, you got the bag?

Nowhere, there's a police officers down the street held her.

Come up here now.

He pulled the trigger off.

My god, after he attacked me, he pulled the trigger of the gun in my hand.

Okay, Karen.

After Kenneth was shot, Hannah had the nerve to tell the dispatcher that Kenneth had shot himself with her gun.

Imagine that.

Moments later, she coldly told a bystander that she was fine, but that Kenneth wasn't.

I didn't know he.

Witnesses later described Hannah's demeanor after the shooting.

They claimed that she was cold and actually seemed kind of proud of herself.

And what was her doing here at that time?

Calm like, oh.

Like she don't know.

There wasn't a lot of emotion.

Now, what was the defendis demeanor?

Immediately after the victim was shot.

She had no real more.

She was just like she was stunned out.

She had no remorse at all.

She was so right in that moment, she felt like she had done something.

Now, after the victim was shot, what happened, Well, he just.

Laid back and and see, uh, his eyes went white.

He just laid back.

She stood back.

Somebody else's way down a police officer who was already exit.

The officer came running up.

He said, what happened?

Who shot Akler?

Hankles Hannah insisted that Kenneth grabs her gun and shot himself, but no one at the scene could confirm or deny that because nobody had a clear view of the weapon when it fired.

And you know where the gun was based on your observation at that time.

The gun was in her if I'm not mistaken, right in, but it was inside the truck, so of course of the door panel, I couldn't see what was going on.

After she stuck it in.

But when the gun, when you hear the gun shot.

If I'm not, I just want to make sure I understand the hand or the arm with the gun was inside the truck.

And here's ma'am.

Despite her claims of self defense, and it's a woman, so they're always going to be claiming self defense.

Hannah was ultimately arrested and charged with multiple crimes, including malice and fellow nee murder.

Formally charged a grand jury indicting the woman accused of following a man involved in a hidden run, then killing him during a confrontation.

Clayton County's district attorney says Hannah Payne was trying to act like the police when she fatally shot sixty two year old Kenneth Herring last month, a witness telling police he appeared to be suffering a medical emergency like diabetic shot pain.

Indicted on malice and felony murder, she's claiming self defense.

The COVID nineteen pandemic I know, I'm sick of talking about it too, I am, but it caused a massive court backlog across the entire country, and Clayton County was no exception.

It took prosecution four years to bring Hannah Paine to trial.

In the meantime, she remained out of jail on a one hundred thousand dollars bond, surrounded by family and friends who supported her.

You know, you obviously got an outcome that you were looking for one hundred thousand dollars bond your reaction.

I'm speechless.

I'm just so glad you know that it and that way.

I mean, we're sorry for what happened and everything regards to mister Herron's family and everything that Hannah is not the person that they are saying.

She is not at all.

She's the sweetest, most caring.

What do you say you just mentioned about the family, mister Harring's family, what do you want.

To say to them?

I just wanted to say that this was an unfortunate, unfortunate situation that you know, turned out the way it did, but not at the hands of my daughter.

What do you mean, though, at the answer of your daughter?

Just it was not her fault, of course not.

How could it possibly be?

Your precious baby angels fall naturally?

Kenneth Herring's family saw things a bit differently.

After waiting years for justice, the frustration boiled over, and Kenneth's brother wrote a letter to the NAACP.

Within that letter, he wrote, my brother Kenneth Herring was murdered in cold blood by Hannah Pain.

This murderer is out on bond and has not been brought to justice.

Eventually, the trial did begin.

Hannah Payne faced eight felony charges, including malice murder, which could have put her in prison for life.

A trial, and in a surprising move, Hannah took the witness stand.

Staring directly at the jury.

She told them her reasoning for why Kenneth Herring had to die.

She said there was no choice, she had to save her own life.

In December of twenty twenty three, after four years of delays, Hannah Payne's murder trial finally began.

She faced eight felony charges, including malice murder, felony murder, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

That last one seems a bit redundant, doesn't it.

If convicted, the now twenty five year old woman could spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In twenty nineteen, Clayton County police a Payn shot and killed sixty two year old Kenneth Herring.

Payne is accused of following hering after he left the scene of a crash where he reportedly hit a semi truck.

Hearing was experiencing a medical emergency, which appeared to be diabetic shock.

She allegedly confronted him and attempted to make a citizen's arrest.

She's facing a number of charges, including malice and felony murder.

Like any murder trial, the proceedings began with jury instructions, followed by the prosecution's opening statement.

On May seven, a, two thousand nineteen.

Pain had the audacity to chase, corner, detain, assault, shoot, and kill.

An unarmed sixty two year old kid Herring who was sitting in his own car, all because.

She didn't like his driving.

From the start, prosecutors hammered home a key point, Hannah Paine had no business involving herself in the crash between Kenneth Herring and the semi truck driver.

In fact, Hannah Paine had no business involving herself in many things, and neither do you.

Ladies.

Well you're an expert in geopolitics now just because you have a Facebook profile, go fuck yourself anyway.

The accident had nothing to do with her, She had no right to intervene.

And the defendant, even though it has the first accident, really didn't have very little to do with her.

As the augacidy to get in her vehicle and chase him.

The defendant is narrating what she's doing to the nine one one operator, who, of course, of course tell us the defendant, ma'am, don't chase him.

That's not safe.

Don't follow him.

We don't need you to do that.

But just defendant, as far as she was concerned, was the rightest.

Person she knew, because she tells that NM one one operator, well, I'm not I'm not gonna follow him.

So she's kind of backed off and just let it be.

Nope, not good enough.

And you will hear the.

Defendant screaming, get out of the car, get out of the car, and.

Witnesses will tell you that she jumps out and is going straight to his driver's side.

But it turns out mister Harry's window is part of the way down and that this defendant is reaching in to where.

Mister Kieran is sitting in the car.

In the truck, the defendant reaching in and assaulting mister Karen, And while he's trying to deal with the defendant at his door, his car moves forward.

And what happens.

He said, hey, boss, and her gee.

And once that happens, you'll hear an escalation.

Of what she's saying.

Get the fuck out of the.

Car, Get the fuck out of the car.

I will show you, I will show you.

The prosecutors also wasted no time dismantling Hannah's version of events, implying that her explanation of what happened was absurd.

And after she shoots him, she picks up the phone with another one opera one, no one, one Operator one.

Ma'am, you're not supposed to follow him.

She's gonna tell you the very first thing she said, he get my car.

That's what she says.

You will hear her tell you, in her own words, why she killed this man.

Then she tells the number one operator, he pulled the trigger on my gun.

And shot himself.

That's the little you're gonna hear, trying to claim.

This man.

Would shoot him Siff.

The defense, on the other hand, stood by Hannah's story.

They insisted that Kenneth Herring had been the aggressor and that Hannah had no choice but to protect herself.

And you will see teachers, and you will hook testimony, and you will see scratches all over her name, scratches on the her head, all these bruises on her face, These are evidentsts that are going to come in.

These pictures weren't taking right after this, and you see her sure just completely wide open.

To bolster their argument, the defense pointed out that Kenneth a handyman, at various tools in his truck, items that in theory, could have been used as weapons against Hannah.

Yet that never happened.

They're going to show you pictures of a knife, work tools that could be used aggressively to cause substantial, serious immediate home.

The trial lasted five days.

Witnesses, police officers, and forensic experts took the stand, laying out what they saw, heard, and uncovered.

Much of the testimony supported the prosecution's case, painting Hannah as the aggressor.

There was evidence of a struggle, but nothing to suggest that Kenneth Herring had attacked Hannah when she confronted him at his truck.

Then Hannah took the stand.

I was on my way home from work and I was coming up to an intersection where the light had just turned green.

As I was getting ready to turn left, there was a semi that was turning right.

Someone ran the red light and I watched him run right into the tractor trailer.

I pulled off to the side and I got on the phone with nine to one one.

Hannah began telling her side of the story, describing the traffic accident she witnessed and everything that unfolded after that.

After that, we were kind of just standing there waiting for the police to arrive.

And the other gentleman who had witnessed it walked over to us, and he introduced himself and said that he was a state officer, and he flashed his badge and said that he had checked on the other gentleman, and that was asking us, are we okay?

Is everybody all right?

One of the key witnesses to the accident was an off duty correctional officer named Terry Robinson.

During her testimony, Hannah claimed that she'd been following the instructions of a man she assumed was a quote state officer.

What I thought that we had.

Learned was that the driver who had caused the original accident was potentially drunk.

I noticed that's when he completely gets in his truck.

He starts trying to turn it on, and you can hear him like revving it to get it to turn on and that's when he started to drive away.

So I'm explaining to the dispatch what happened, and as he's pulling off, she's asking me, you know, was I able to get the time number?

Realizing I wasn't able to.

I was already at my vehicle and my completely got in my vehicle and went to go pull off, and at that time, the truck driver and the state officer was still standing over in the street, and he started waving me over, like calling me towards him.

And when you got it close to him, what happened?

I asked him?

Did he go straight?

And he said yes, and he's telling me he said.

Go So at that time, you were under depression that he's a state officer sending you to get the tag and nil one knows that you're on the way to get the tag.

Correct.

After Kenneth had fled the scene, Terry Robinson instructed Hannah to follow Kenneth.

And this fact was not disputed, and.

That was you in there saying go good, go corright, yes, okay, I was directed clearly to misstaining right.

Yes, And you didn't see.

Her after that because she's going to get a picture of the attack, right, yes, said do you never said anything about please don't pursue, or you never said anything like, hey, d say.

Don't do this.

I said, you get the picture of the attack, and you said go go good gum, she's going to get a picture of attack.

Well, Terry may have been in the wrong to encourage Hannah to pursue Kenneth.

One thing was certain.

You never told her to run him off the road and shoot him.

Not to.

I mentionine the fact that just because you're female doesn't mean you don't have autonomy and can't make your own decisions.

You know, why are you always acting like victims.

Hannah's decision to chase him was her own, despite what anybody else told her.

Nonetheless, Hannah's testimony continued, all.

Right, so then now you're you're going in the direction they pointed you, and you're on the phone in nine to one.

One was nine to one saying anything.

I was just there was kind of silence from the time that she had.

Initially asked me if I had got the tag.

I was still kind of getting my bearings, and I just started repeating to her, telling her, Okay, you know he's going down.

Clark Howell or Forest Parkway.

So you never heard them give a warning of not to chase.

No.

This was a damning moment at trial and frankly a boneheaded move by the defense when prompted by her own attorney, and it claims she hadn't heard the nine one one dispatcher tell her not to chase Kenneth, but the recorded call told a different story.

Okay, so you couldn't get a tang number.

No, but I'm puting helping him right now.

Okay, man, we actually do not want you to chase him.

Would need to.

I understand, I'm your and we hear the tack number.

If nothing else, the dispatcher's words were crystal clear, do not chase.

Hannah had even responded saying that she one hundred percent understood before outright refusing to obey.

Y'all ever heard that word obey might be a new one for you.

I'm not.

I'm sorry that I'm here to tell you.

I'm not not going to follow him.

Because he is going to call another actor, so I won't stay behind him and coming officers we.

Get to us.

Hannah's testimony continued.

She went on to explain her actions when she confronted Kenneth.

At that point is.

When we had both come up to the intersection and I saw him stopped in the toning lane, so I turned as well.

And when I stopped, I was under the impression, with me having nine one one on the phone, that I could just be kind of like a messenger.

So I took my phone on speaker and I took it to him to show him that I had the police on the phone, and I'm telling him they want us to go back to the original accident site.

Hannah tried to present herself as a good Samaritan, but the nine one one recording contradicted this.

She had been aggressive, barking orders at an older man who was likely in the midst of a medical emergency.

Granted, she didn't know Kenneth's condition and assumed he was drunk, but even so there was no justification for her to chase him down and confront him.

But as I got closer, I heard him asking me who the f are you?

And I told him that I was nobody, but that I had the police on the phone and that they wanted us to go back to the original absent say.

Apparently I was close enough for him to reach out the car and he knocked my phone out of my hand and he grabbed me.

By my wrist and he pulled me into the vehicle.

Hannah claimed Kenneth attacked her and tried to pull her into his truck.

If that was true, a point the prosecution strongly doubted, Hannah was clearly the one who escalated the situation.

Legally, whatever action Kenneth took at that point didn't matter.

The indication is as from all of the witnesses were asked her demeanor aggressive aggressive, very aggressive.

Once she is noted as the initial aggressor, as the aggressor on seeing nothing that mister Harring done did is relevant.

Despite the prosecution's argument, Hannah stuck to her story.

She insisted that she'd been trying to protect herself.

He was pulling my wrists and he pulled me in the vehicle, and he kept yelling at me, telling me I have something for you, bitch.

And he's leaning and he's reaching and he's pulling, and at this point I remember that time.

I remember that he had let go of my wrist and he grabbed me by the back of my neck, and it was as if he was trying to kind of keep a hold of me, I'm telling him to let me go, and.

That's when he hits the gas and we go forward.

I'm stealing the car.

At this point, while it may have been a few steps or a few feet, when you are being held against your will and you have no idea what's ahead of you and you're looking down, it felt like it lasted forever.

Here we go with the tears.

Of course, kind of goes on to tell the jury that after Kenneth's truck lurched forward and crashed into her precious jeep, Kenneth attempted to take Hannah's gun and now suddenly she's being held against her will.

The irony, What the fuck was she doing there?

Anyway?

This eternal victimhood, it's fucking exhausting.

He grabbed my hand with the gun in it.

He's pulling at it.

He's pulling at it, and I'm just yelling at him to stop.

As he's turning it towards like that way.

I'm being pulled and pulled, and I can feel myself like pressing up against the car, like my face is up against the door, and as.

He's pulling it is when it they should kind of went on Okay, having.

Gone to that situation and Q are in court, is there anything you've learned from this situation that sticks in your mind.

That not everybody is going to have a reaction that you think they're going to have, and it clearly trying to do the right thing, it's not the right answer.

Jeezus freaking did the concept of minding your own business ever crossed your mind, Hannah?

I mean, why would it?

Hannah claimed that she had been simply trying to do the right thing, but in the end, it was Kenneth who was to blame for what happened.

For Kenneth's family, who were sitting in the courtroom listening to Hannah's words was unbearable.

How was that?

I mean, for them to bring forth that type of defense.

What did you think about that?

I think it's selfish to blame the victim, and I thought it was heartless when all accounts said the aggressive and then to blame a victim of the person.

That you calls it must have been tough to sit through that.

It was very tough.

Next up, the prosecution cross examined Hannah, which was a bit of a disaster for the.

Defense, and you also testified today that you never heard that.

Now, will one dispatch give you a warning that chase you?

I never said that.

I said that she told me that she wanted me to be safe, and I said that from what I took it as was that she didn't want me to chase.

And when I explained to her, I wasn't chasing.

I was just simply saying with him until a police.

Officer could get to us.

And then now on one dispatch indicated to you approximately four times to either not chase mister heron and go back to the scene.

Correct, incorrect.

I only heard it one time, and she told me not to chase to be safe.

She never told me to go back to the scene until after I had told her that I was behind him and that she wanted me to be safe, and in doing so, she said that she wanted both of us.

To go back.

Hanna's explanation of the nine one one call was a word salad, mess rambling, contradictory, and unluckly to convince the jury of anything other than she was an idiot.

You only heard her tell you to stop chasing once, but then she told you again to stop chasing and go back to the scene.

After you told her that you were behind him.

What we what what are you even saying, lady, Oh, that's right, it's never my fault.

I see, makes sense.

And the dispatcher tells you, okay, ma'am, we actually do not want you to chase him.

We just want you to be safe.

The first time, they tell you not to chase him.

Correct, she didn't tell.

Me not to.

She just said that they didn't want me to because of my safety.

At least it's the way that I interpreted.

Okay, I'll give you that.

So they told you that they do not want you to chase him.

Correct, Correct, And the dispatcher tells you after that it's not safe to chase him.

Second time.

Correct, that's what the transcripts guns said.

When we're listening to it, I don't remember hearing that.

And once she gets the tag number from you, she tells you, okay, so if you could go back to that location where the didn't happen, because someone is actually on the way to you guys, now, is that correct?

Correct?

That's the third time she's telling you to not continue to follow mister Herring and go back to the location.

And the dispatcher tells you after that you know, that's what I want.

I want you guys to go back to the location where it happened, and an officer would be out there momentarily.

So that's the fourth time.

She's telling you again after going over the nine when one call.

Prosecutor then turned to what happened after Hannah blocked Kenneth's truck.

Now you testified that you walked up to him.

Does it sound like you described it calmly telling him that the nine one one dispatch wanted him to go back to the scene, correct, and telling him calmly that you were on the phone of nine one one.

I mean you say calmly?

Do you mean like was I irate or was I louder?

That she's your testimony today that you did not get out of your vehicle run up to mister Herring's vehicle telling him to get out of the car.

Correct, And you never once got out of your vehicle and go up to him and tell him to get out of.

The fucking car.

Where everyone heard I did.

And so at no point on the now one one tape did you ever tell him to stop I go back to the scene.

I did, And did you hear that on the now one one.

Conveniently.

No.

The prosecutor's argument was simple.

Hannah had no legal right to chase Kenneth.

She had no reason to confront him at all, and the only reason a man was dead was because of the choices she made on that day.

So, in the initial incident, your vehicle was not struck correct, correct, and so there was no reason for you to interject yourself in the final inclusion of what happened with mister Herring.

As far as that incident was concerned.

There's a lot that led up to that.

So for me to have introducted myself to begin with was me doing something that I would have wanted someone else to do for me, which was to be a witness for what I thought was an accident.

I talked about the fact that it could have been avoided had you not attempted to, I guess, assist or help.

But this actually could have been avoided if you not had introduced a gun into this incident.

Correct.

I introduced the gun to try and save my life.

Nothing further on.

Hannah's decision to testify didn't do her any favors, but given how much evidence was stacked against her, she really didn't have much of a choice.

Maybe a white girl crying on the stand would sway a dumb juror or two.

Finally, after days of testimony, the trial drew to a close and both sides delivered their closing arguments.

The defendant had multiple opportunities to do something else, to go back to the incident location, to go back home, not pursuit.

This had nothing to do with her.

You can't poke a bear and then when the bear turns around and attack, you want to claim self defense.

It doesn't work that way.

And you know how much entitlement you have to have.

To chase somebody down, detain them, jump out your car.

And run toward a stranger.

He didn't know her, he didn't know why she was approaching his car.

And demand that they do anything.

He didn't have to listen to her, He didn't have to do anything.

She said.

Audacity to come here and take that stand and blame everybody else.

The prosecution argued the obvious Hannah should have minded her own business.

The world would be a much better place if more of y'all out there.

Yeah, you, the one's listening right now, minded your own fucking business.

The defense counter claiming that Hannah was young, naive, and simply trying to do the right thing.

But how many times have we heard that before, not understanding.

What could happen because she's never been in there.

She's twenty one years old, never be.

In a situation like that.

Her mind.

She's a young individual.

Trying to help out.

This is not a killer.

There is not some nerve.

This is a young girl I got caught up the wrong situations of a good heart and good attention.

The jury had two versions of Hannah pain to consider.

The defense portrayed her as a well intentioned, but naive young woman.

The prosecution painted her as an entitled and smug karen who took the law into her own hands and ended up killing an innocent man.

In the end, it was the jury's job to decide which version of Hannah was the truth, and it only took him about two hours to make that decision.

More breaking news, this time out of Clayton County, where we just heard hours ago, a jury return a verdict in the murder trial of Hannah Payne.

The panel deliberated for a little more than two hours, unanimously finding her guilty on all eight counts.

Say it with me, guilty on all counts for Kenneth Herring's family, justice had finally been served.

When I heard the first verdict, I know we wasn't supposed to show sign, but tears start rolling down my face because at that moment I failed on relief that came over and from the first to the second to all the way to the eighth, all I could say was thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

Well.

This trout remained focused on the evidence.

The court of public opinion, of course, was much messier.

Because Hannah was a white woman who shot a black man.

Many on social media, you know, the shit stain that it is, were quick to label her actions as racially motivated.

The prosecutors rejected this theory outright because the evidence just didn't support it.

Besides, Hannah had previously dated a black man, her current boyfriend was Dominican, and her best friend since childhood was a black woman.

All accounts, Hannah had a diverse circle of friends.

In fact, she must have felt bulletproof anyway.

For the state.

Racism and hatred were never a factor in this case.

That's just social media horseshit by other Karens with nothing better to do.

I think people are under the misconception that it was race.

We never ever bought race into this matter.

As I told y'all when she was convicted the other night, that was too simple to say that it was black and white.

You know, we sat in our office for four years, we were having these these discussions and trying to figure out why.

Only Hannah Payne knows why she did it.

But the fact that the certain things that we knew, that she knew, she had an African American boyfriend, you know, so that automatically throws out, you know, hate out there.

You know, race, We will never know.

We will never know because she never really told us the truth on the stand.

That story kept change.

The district attorney put it bluntly, only Hannah Payne knew why she did what she did, but one could argue that maybe even she didn't fully understand.

The people closest to her certainly struggled to make sense of what happened.

Her friends and family were stunned when they learned about it.

Those who knew Hannah swore she was one of the kindest people they'd ever met.

At Hannah's sentencing hearing, several of them spoke on her behalf.

Pyne was in tears at times as her loved ones talked about the person they knew her to be.

I have witnessed her servant's heart more times than I could be permitted to talk about today.

Over the course of time, I have consistently witnessed Hannah opening doors for others, always express thank yous without hesitation, to step in and offer assistance whenever and wherever needed.

If you've ever had a moment where you need to lift a heavy item into your car and a stranger walked up without being asked and offered to help.

You, this could have been Hannah.

If you've ever seen a person ask for money on the street and a person give it freely because they care.

That may also have been Hannah.

If you have ever seen a stray animal walking too close along a roadway and a total stranger stopped to render help, that also was likely Hannah.

And not once, not ever, have I ever witnessed her be the slightest unkind.

The murder of Kenneth Herring wasn't the work of a cold blooded killer, but rather several moments where someone's worst instincts took over.

Hannah pain allowed her inner monster to win and because of that a father, a husband, a brother, and a son lost his life.

But what made things even worse was what came next.

Rather than take responsibility, Hannah took her case to trial, trying to convince the jury that her murder victim attacked her and that he had shot himself.

Her lack of remorse spoke volumes.

One of the nicest people you've ever met.

You say, huh, that's interesting.

She continued to allow the monster to win, adding to the suffering she had already caused that sentencing.

Kenneth's family understandably pleaded for the maximum punishment.

The prosecution and defense both presented witnesses, among them Herring's relatives.

I'll never see my brother again, only through pictures, the same sentence that she gave him.

Like to see the same sentence given to her.

Kenneth's family and the prosecution pushed for life without parole will the defense pleaded for life with the possibility of parole.

Ultimately, the judge chose the latter, but also ordered that some of Hannah's additional charges would run consecutively to her life sentence.

Miss pain is.

Going away for life with the possibility of parole for those of you who do not understand what life, what the possibility of parole means.

It means in thirty years that will be the first time and she will be able to come up for parole.

But she's got an additional thirteen years.

She's a twenty five year old woman.

I'm not good with math, but thirty plus thirteen would put her somewhere around seventy eight years old before she could possibly get.

Out of jail.

Hannah Payne was not a career criminal.

She wasn't a hardened killer by all accounts.

She was a decent, an ordinary young woman living an ordinary life until the day she wasn't until the day she got so gassed up that she thought she was batman.

That day, a mix of arrogance, self righteousness, and adrenaline pushed her past the point of no return.

Women don't seem to do well with adrenaline.

Men live with it.

Born in darkness, molded by it.

In Hannah's immature mind, she was a hero, an enforcer of justice, a caped crusader, and a jeep wrangler.

Do you hear how dumb that sounds?

But justice was never hers to deliver?

And then chasing a moment of control, which is all it was.

She destroyed countless lives, including her own.

She lost everything.

One pull of a trigger was all it took for an ordinary woman to become a murderer.

The line between man and monster isn't as thick as we'd like to think.

It's fucking scary.

It can happen in an instant to you, to me, or anyone else for that matter, when we're least expecting it.

Sometimes all it takes to cross over that line is the wrong belief that you're on the right side.

All right, ladies, I think I've beaten you up enough today.

He's so abusive, So why don't you mind your own business and head on over to swordscale dot com and until next week, stay say