Speaker 1: Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence, and is
not intended for all audiences.
Speaker 2: Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 3: He was pulling my wrists, and he pulled me in
the vehicle, and he's reaching and he's pulling.
Speaker 4: When you are being held against your.
Speaker 3: Will and you have no idea what's ahead of you,
it felt like it lasted forever.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 5: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 6: 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.
Speaker 7: To the side to deal with the fact that there's
just been a traffic accident.
Speaker 1: Several other motorists saw the crash unfold and some pulled
over to help, including Georgia Correctional officer named Terry Robinson.
Speaker 8: Did you witness a vehicle collision on May nineteen, Yes, ma'am?
And where did that collision occur?
Speaker 9: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: Now, what damages did you observe to the red maroon
truck after the accident?
Speaker 9: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 9: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 10: As it so happens that just happened to be one
of the worst traffic days in that area.
Speaker 11: Too.
Speaker 7: Any file was shut.
Speaker 4: Down because a battery.
Speaker 10: Trump had called on fire, So law enforcement is kind
of blocking the entrance.
Speaker 6: And exits for two eighty five. And then there's another
accident somewhere else in that area.
Speaker 10: 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.
Speaker 1: More than twenty minutes had passed since Terry called nine
to one one, No cops or emergency services had arrived,
So Terry called again.
Speaker 12: 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.
Speaker 13: 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.
Speaker 14: Okay, I just get a call.
Speaker 3: We already had someone on the way.
Speaker 1: The dispatcher assured Terry that help was on the way. Meanwhile,
another witness to the crash also called.
Speaker 7: Nine one one Clayton County.
Speaker 12: Now one one one is the location of your emergency? Yes, Pam,
I'm w on Forest Parkway and Clark Howell Highway and.
Speaker 15: There was just an accident.
Speaker 14: I'm sure they've already called, but I was just I
just witnessed it, and I just wanted to make sure that.
Speaker 13: I, I guess called the police as well.
Speaker 16: In case they didn't.
Speaker 4: What were the kind of vehicles?
Speaker 13: And Vogue, It's a red Dodge pickup truck.
Speaker 14: 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.
Speaker 12: Okay, and what's your name?
Speaker 8: Funny ms Hannah Anna last name, It's Payne p A.
Speaker 16: Y n E.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 10: Mister Harry appeared somewhat confused after the accident, kept saying.
Speaker 4: Who hit me?
Speaker 10: What's happening things along those lines, and then started saying
things like I didn't do anything wrong.
Speaker 1: Kenneth wandered in circles a few times. Then he got
back behind the wheel of his truck and tried to
restart the engine.
Speaker 9: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 13: 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.
Speaker 17: Take a picture.
Speaker 13: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 13: 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.
Speaker 1: As Hannah pursued Kenneth, she stayed on the phone with
the nine to one one dispatcher and relayed his movements.
Speaker 16: Now one one with the location of.
Speaker 18: Yes, ma'am, I'm on cars Powell.
Speaker 16: It's Worth Parkway, the section I actually.
Speaker 14: Called twenty minutes ago for an accident, and no one
has done up yet.
Speaker 18: But I am running the intension that the guy that
caused the accident, he ran the red bike, is drunk and.
Speaker 13: He got me back in his car and he's looking
like he's trying to drive away.
Speaker 16: Hey, can you get a sad humper.
Speaker 15: Hold on driving away? Her shots Dakota Hold, Okay, so
he is going we down park No.
Speaker 19: Sorry, now Court Parkway.
Speaker 16: So you couldn't get the same number.
Speaker 18: No, but I'm patting helping him right now.
Speaker 1: Hannah followed Kenneth and eventually caught up to him. What
happened next left several other drivers stunned and horrified.
Speaker 7: 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.
Speaker 16: Saw, just like a little pushing back and forth.
Speaker 4: What else happens next?
Speaker 20: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 9: It wasn't good law, but we see it happened that
he was leaving to turn it on and leave the scene.
Speaker 10: He realized at some point mister Robson did that, mister
Harry kind of circling his vehicle.
Speaker 7: He didn't know what's going on. He might end in
his car and drive somewhere.
Speaker 10: I think he's going to leave the state, And sure enough,
mister Harry does get in his vehicle and he did
try it.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 21: Yes, I was flagged down by a citizen that informed
me there had in a vehicle accident and someone.
Speaker 4: Had been shot.
Speaker 7: When you first arrived, kind of describe what you initially see.
Speaker 21: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 3: And what did you do?
Speaker 21: 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.
Speaker 7: And was a paramedics or empty or an ambulance?
Speaker 4: Requested, Yes, they were?
Speaker 7: 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?
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: I no longer have a big brother.
Speaker 22: 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.
Speaker 4: We won't get to.
Speaker 22: Laugh at him because he couldn't dance, but he tried.
No more Christmas, no more birthdays, no more family gather
his grandchildren.
Speaker 8: Well, no, yes, no children, fair, they don't have a
bother anymore.
Speaker 1: After Kenneth had died, an autopsy was performed to determine
the cause and manner of his death.
Speaker 8: And did you recover any projectiles from mister Harry's body.
Speaker 23: 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.
Speaker 8: 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?
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 7: Did you do anything to see if you could determine
who had fired a shot?
Speaker 21: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: Typically I'm in the field.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 24: And because you were going to all these different places
to meet people you don't know, did you do anything
for your safety?
Speaker 3: I did?
Speaker 16: And what was that.
Speaker 3: I registered for a concealed carry permit, and when I
received it, I purchased a firearm.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 19: 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.
Speaker 3: Driving along behind my shirt.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 18: Black my shirt, someone grabbed. I don't, honestly, I don't.
Speaker 19: I know, I don't remember how myself culture.
Speaker 1: 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?
Speaker 8: Now, when you made contact with the driver in the
maroon truck, what were your observations of him physically.
Speaker 9: 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.
Speaker 16: Was out of it.
Speaker 8: So you didn't smell an alcohol, No.
Speaker 3: I did not.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 16: Yes.
Speaker 1: Later on investigators did confirm that Kenneth was a diabetic
and that he relied on insulin.
Speaker 7: And are you related to Kenneth Herring?
Speaker 25: Yes?
Speaker 7: 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?
Speaker 16: He was insulindependent.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 23: When a person dies, the blood sugar continues to be
metabolized very very quickly.
Speaker 4: So even in a person whose blood sugar.
Speaker 23: Was normal at their time of death, that test would
show low blood sugar.
Speaker 4: That's just the normal course of what we call post
warning change.
Speaker 23: 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.
Speaker 1: While the autopsy couldn't verify diabetic shock, it could reveal
if Kenneth was intoxicated on the day he died.
Speaker 23: 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.
Speaker 8: And you say everything was negative, yes, And what about
the blood alcohol kind thing?
Speaker 4: It was negative as well.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: And I know he was having a diabetic episode because
he don't just run off the scene.
Speaker 14: I knew he was trying to get to the hospital.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 26: 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.
Speaker 4: She was speeding. She's going very fast.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: And she blocked him from driving. So he about to
be raped.
Speaker 7: And it caught my intention because it was like really
at years, so it was just road rage at the time.
Speaker 4: And then had a woman.
Speaker 3: Popped out of the car and she said about the truck, do.
Speaker 4: You have a bunch of times.
Speaker 1: Several witnesses saw what happened next. They watched as Hannah
got out of her jeep and aggressively approached Kenneth's window.
Speaker 26: I saw her at the driver's side door of the
vehicle of yelling obscenities for the man, so get out
of the car.
Speaker 4: And it was like she was trying to fight with
the window.
Speaker 8: And when you say she was trying to fight him
through the window, what did you actually see.
Speaker 4: I just saw her hand moving, you know, get out
of the car, motherfucker doing all this.
Speaker 26: I never saw anyone's hands come out of the window, perfect,
But I didn't see her at the window.
Speaker 17: 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.
Speaker 8: Of the truck.
Speaker 16: What anything did you hear her say?
Speaker 4: I heard her, so you can get the f out
of the car.
Speaker 16: She just kept cussing.
Speaker 8: 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?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 16: And what did you observe of mister Harry?
Speaker 4: 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.
Speaker 16: He getting raising the hands or anything. He was just
sitting there.
Speaker 17: 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.
Speaker 27: Him like that.
Speaker 7: Could you see any anything about the facial expressions or anything.
Speaker 9: Like that on the driver of the truck.
Speaker 16: He looked confused and shocked.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 17: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 17: 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.
Speaker 4: Get out the car.
Speaker 19: She pulled out a gun and a lot of try
so people we moved heavy honking to the head out
of the way.
Speaker 4: 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.
Speaker 16: Need an ambulance.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 16: It was a morning light.
Speaker 12: And then she stopped im.
Speaker 28: 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.
Speaker 8: Okay, you said she pulled out a guy, Yes, she too.
Speaker 14: For time.
Speaker 5: She saw him.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 16: Okay, so you couldn't get the same number.
Speaker 18: No, but I'm tating helping him right now.
Speaker 16: Okay, well, we actually do not want you to chase him.
We just want need to be safe.
Speaker 18: Understand him, I understand.
Speaker 19: I'm just to get the pack number, nothing else, but
I am going west down for Its Parkway and.
Speaker 4: Almost up to him.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: If you can go back to that location where the
incident happened, and because someone is baking on the way
to you guys, now.
Speaker 18: Okay, well there's a police officer there, but he is drunk.
Speaker 3: I'm not.
Speaker 4: I'm not.
Speaker 15: 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.
Speaker 18: So I won't say behind him and tell an officer
to get to us.
Speaker 4: You know, that's what I want.
Speaker 14: I want you guys to go back to his location
where it happened, and an officer will be at them momentarily.
Speaker 16: Okay, I'm not.
Speaker 24: Ma'am.
Speaker 16: Ma'am, ma'am, Yeah, ma'am.
Speaker 18: He pulled the trigger of my gun in my hand.
Speaker 29: Why why ma'am.
Speaker 30: To follow him?
Speaker 16: Okay, you got the bag?
Speaker 15: Nowhere, there's a police officers down the street held her.
Speaker 6: Come up here now.
Speaker 16: He pulled the trigger off.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 18: I didn't know he.
Speaker 1: Witnesses later described Hannah's demeanor after the shooting. They claimed
that she was cold and actually seemed kind of proud
of herself.
Speaker 30: And what was her doing here at that time?
Speaker 31: Calm like, oh.
Speaker 3: Like she don't know.
Speaker 4: There wasn't a lot of emotion.
Speaker 8: Now, what was the defendis demeanor? Immediately after the victim
was shot.
Speaker 4: She had no real more. She was just like she
was stunned out. She had no remorse at all.
Speaker 26: She was so right in that moment, she felt like
she had done something.
Speaker 4: Now, after the victim was shot, what happened, Well, he just.
Speaker 26: Laid back and and see, uh, his eyes went white.
Speaker 4: He just laid back. She stood back.
Speaker 26: Somebody else's way down a police officer who was already exit.
Speaker 4: The officer came running up.
Speaker 8: He said, what happened?
Speaker 4: Who shot Akler?
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: And you know where the gun was based on your
observation at that time.
Speaker 17: 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.
Speaker 16: After she stuck it in.
Speaker 7: 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.
Speaker 4: And here's ma'am.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 32: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 3: You know, you obviously got an outcome that you were
looking for one hundred thousand dollars bond your reaction.
Speaker 4: I'm speechless.
Speaker 27: 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.
Speaker 16: She is not at all.
Speaker 27: She's the sweetest, most caring.
Speaker 13: What do you say you just mentioned about the family,
mister Harring's family, what do you want.
Speaker 27: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 2: 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.
Speaker 1: Like any murder trial, the proceedings began with jury instructions,
followed by the prosecution's opening statement.
Speaker 7: On May seven, a, two thousand nineteen.
Speaker 25: Pain had the audacity to chase, corner, detain, assault, shoot,
and kill.
Speaker 7: An unarmed sixty two year old kid Herring who was
sitting in his own car, all because.
Speaker 16: She didn't like his driving.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 10: And the defendant, even though it has the first accident,
really didn't have very little to do with her.
Speaker 7: 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.
Speaker 16: That's not safe.
Speaker 3: Don't follow him.
Speaker 4: We don't need you to do that.
Speaker 7: But just defendant, as far as she was concerned, was
the rightest.
Speaker 6: Person she knew, because she tells that NM one one operator, well,
I'm not I'm not gonna follow him.
Speaker 16: So she's kind of backed off and just let it be.
Speaker 10: Nope, not good enough.
Speaker 4: And you will hear the.
Speaker 1: Defendant screaming, get out of the car, get out of
the car, and.
Speaker 33: Witnesses will tell you that she jumps out and is
going straight to his driver's side.
Speaker 25: But it turns out mister Harry's window is part of
the way down and that this defendant is reaching in
to where.
Speaker 16: Mister Kieran is sitting in the car.
Speaker 7: 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.
Speaker 16: He said, hey, boss, and her gee.
Speaker 7: And once that happens, you'll hear an escalation.
Speaker 3: Of what she's saying.
Speaker 16: Get the fuck out of the.
Speaker 4: Car, Get the fuck out of the car. I will
show you, I will show you.
Speaker 1: The prosecutors also wasted no time dismantling Hannah's version of events,
implying that her explanation of what happened was absurd.
Speaker 10: And after she shoots him, she picks up the phone
with another one opera one, no one, one Operator one.
Speaker 7: Ma'am, you're not supposed to follow him.
Speaker 10: She's gonna tell you the very first thing she said,
he get my car.
Speaker 12: That's what she says.
Speaker 33: 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.
Speaker 16: And shot himself.
Speaker 7: That's the little you're gonna hear, trying to claim.
Speaker 11: This man.
Speaker 16: Would shoot him Siff.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 34: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 34: They're going to show you pictures of a knife, work
tools that could be used aggressively to cause substantial, serious
immediate home.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 3: I was on my way home from work and I
was coming up to an intersection where the light had
just turned green.
Speaker 4: As I was getting ready to turn left, there was
a semi that was turning right.
Speaker 3: Someone ran the red light and I watched him run
right into the tractor trailer.
Speaker 4: I pulled off to the side and I got on
the phone with nine to one one.
Speaker 1: Hannah began telling her side of the story, describing the
traffic accident she witnessed and everything that unfolded after that.
Speaker 3: 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?
Speaker 4: Is everybody all right?
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: What I thought that we had.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 24: And when you got it close to him, what happened?
Speaker 4: I asked him? Did he go straight? And he said yes,
and he's telling me he said.
Speaker 24: 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.
Speaker 4: Correct.
Speaker 1: After Kenneth had fled the scene, Terry Robinson instructed Hannah
to follow Kenneth. And this fact was not disputed, and.
Speaker 35: That was you in there saying go good, go corright, yes, okay,
I was directed clearly to misstaining right.
Speaker 4: Yes, And you didn't see.
Speaker 35: 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.
Speaker 3: Don't do this.
Speaker 9: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: Not to.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 24: 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.
Speaker 4: I was just there was kind of silence from the
time that she had.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 4: Clark Howell or Forest Parkway.
Speaker 24: So you never heard them give a warning of not
to chase.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 16: Okay, so you couldn't get a tang number.
Speaker 18: No, but I'm puting helping him right now.
Speaker 16: Okay, man, we actually do not want you to chase him.
Speaker 13: Would need to.
Speaker 16: I understand, I'm your and we hear the tack number.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 23: I'm not.
Speaker 18: I'm sorry that I'm here to tell you. I'm not
not going to follow him.
Speaker 15: Because he is going to call another actor, so I
won't stay behind him and coming officers we.
Speaker 16: Get to us.
Speaker 1: Hannah's testimony continued. She went on to explain her actions
when she confronted Kenneth.
Speaker 7: At that point is.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 4: By my wrist and he pulled me into the vehicle.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 7: 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.
Speaker 1: Despite the prosecution's argument, Hannah stuck to her story. She
insisted that she'd been trying to protect herself.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 4: And he's leaning and he's reaching and he's pulling, and
at this point I remember that time.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 4: That's when he hits the gas and we go forward.
I'm stealing the car.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 4: He's pulling it is when it they should kind of
went on Okay, having.
Speaker 24: Gone to that situation and Q are in court, is
there anything you've learned from this situation that sticks in
your mind.
Speaker 11: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 7: How was that?
Speaker 9: I mean, for them to bring forth that type of defense.
Speaker 16: What did you think about that?
Speaker 36: 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.
Speaker 29: That you calls it must have been tough to sit
through that.
Speaker 9: It was very tough.
Speaker 1: Next up, the prosecution cross examined Hannah, which was a
bit of a disaster for the.
Speaker 8: Defense, and you also testified today that you never heard that. Now,
will one dispatch give you a warning that chase you?
Speaker 4: I never said that.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 21: Officer could get to us.
Speaker 8: And then now on one dispatch indicated to you approximately
four times to either not chase mister heron and go
back to the scene.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 11: To go back.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 3: Me not to.
Speaker 4: She just said that they didn't want me to because
of my safety. At least it's the way that I interpreted.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 4: Second time.
Speaker 3: Correct, that's what the transcripts guns said. When we're listening
to it, I don't remember hearing that.
Speaker 8: 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?
Speaker 4: Correct?
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 4: I mean you say calmly? Do you mean like was
I irate or was I louder?
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 16: The fucking car.
Speaker 4: Where everyone heard I did.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 4: Conveniently.
Speaker 22: No.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 3: 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.
Speaker 8: 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.
Speaker 4: Correct. I introduced the gun to try and save my life.
Nothing further on.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 37: The defendant had multiple opportunities to do something else, to
go back to the incident location, to go back home,
not pursuit.
Speaker 4: This had nothing to do with her.
Speaker 37: You can't poke a bear and then when the bear
turns around and attack, you want to claim self defense.
Speaker 4: It doesn't work that way. And you know how much
entitlement you have to have.
Speaker 8: To chase somebody down, detain them, jump out your car.
Speaker 7: And run toward a stranger.
Speaker 8: He didn't know her, he didn't know why she was
approaching his car.
Speaker 29: And demand that they do anything.
Speaker 8: He didn't have to listen to her, He didn't have
to do anything.
Speaker 16: She said.
Speaker 8: Audacity to come here and take that stand and blame
everybody else.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 16: What could happen because she's never been in there.
Speaker 35: She's twenty one years old, never be.
Speaker 4: In a situation like that.
Speaker 24: Her mind.
Speaker 34: She's a young individual.
Speaker 16: Trying to help out.
Speaker 7: This is not a killer.
Speaker 4: There is not some nerve.
Speaker 35: This is a young girl I got caught up the
wrong situations of a good heart and good attention.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 21: 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.
Speaker 7: The panel deliberated for a little more than two hours,
unanimously finding her guilty on all eight counts.
Speaker 1: Say it with me, guilty on all counts for Kenneth
Herring's family, justice had finally been served.
Speaker 30: 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.
Speaker 16: Thank you.
Speaker 24: Well.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 23: For the state.
Speaker 1: Racism and hatred were never a factor in this case.
That's just social media horseshit by other Karens with nothing
better to do.
Speaker 29: 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.
Speaker 24: You know, race, We will never know.
Speaker 29: We will never know because she never really told us
the truth on the stand. That story kept change.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 29: Pyne was in tears at times as her loved ones
talked about the person they knew her to be.
Speaker 31: 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.
Speaker 4: You, this could have been Hannah.
Speaker 31: If you've ever seen a person ask for money on
the street and a person give it freely because they care.
Speaker 4: That may also have been Hannah.
Speaker 31: 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.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 29: The prosecution and defense both presented witnesses, among them Herring's relatives.
Speaker 30: I'll never see my brother again, only through pictures, the
same sentence that she gave him.
Speaker 4: Like to see the same sentence given to her.
Speaker 1: 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.
Speaker 4: Miss pain is.
Speaker 29: 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.
Speaker 4: But she's got an additional thirteen years. She's a twenty
five year old woman.
Speaker 29: I'm not good with math, but thirty plus thirteen would
put her somewhere around seventy eight years old before she
could possibly get.
Speaker 16: Out of jail.
Speaker 1: 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