The News-Star from Monroe, Louisiana • Page B3

THE NEWS-STAR WWW.THENEWSSTAR.COM K1 2016 3B Threethrillingweeklyvirtualreality experienceswillputyouinthe centerofamazing. Immerseyourself vrtuallythere.com LOTTERY Pick 3: 4-0-6 Pick 4: 4-1-1-6 Easy 5: 5-13-20-22-24 Lotto: 12-14-16-20-27-33 Powerball: 12-21-32-44-66 Powerball 15; Power Play 2 Mega Millions: 19-27-47-67-68 Megaball Megaplier 5 DEATHS Frenchie Albritton, 82 Frenchie Nell Albritton, ahomemaker, died Saturday. Graveside services are 10 a.m. Tuesday at Conway Baptist Church Cemetery in Conway Community under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home of Farmerville. Ken Elliott Crawford, 46 MANGHAM Ken Elliott Crawford, a billings manager for Century Link, died Wednesday.

Graveside services are 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Lone Cherry Cemetery in Mangham. Visitation is 5-8 p.m. Monday at Mulhearn Funeral Home- Rayville. Jackie Ann Smith (Foy), 66 Jackie Ann Smith (Foy), of Monroe, retired General Motors employee, died Thursday.

Services are incomplete under the direction of Smith Funeral Home. Gerald W. Smith, 69 Gerald W. Smitty, of West Monroe, retired fireman with the Ouachita Parish Fire Department died Friday. Services are 2 p.m.

Monday at Christ Church, West Monroe. Burial will follow at Serenity Gardens under the direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home, West Monroe. Lillie C. Bass Spence, 95 ISOLA, Mississippi Lillie C. Bass Spence, a homemaker, died Thursday.

Services are noon Monday at Mulhearn Funeral Home, Monroe. Visitation is 11 a.m. until noon Monday at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home, Sterlington Road, Monroe. PREVIOUSLY ACKNOWLEDGED Dutton, Nanola: 2:30 p.m.

Monday, Northeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery Edwards, Doris: 10 a.m. Monday, Mulhearn Funeral Home Miles, Jack: 5 p.m. Tuesday, St. United Methodist Church Funeral homes should submit death notices information by 4 p.m. Email: MILESTONES STAFF REPORT Georgetown slave sale talk is this week NEW ORLEANS The University of New Orleans is hosting a program this week about the 1838 sale of hundreds of slaves to benefit Georgetown University.

The event Wednesday is titled South: Tracing a Jesuit Slave Community from Maryland to It brings together two people who recently learned about their slave ancestors with a Georgetown professor who is also a member of Working Group on Slavery, Memory and Reconciliation. In 1838, two priests orchestrated the sale of 272 people to planters in Louisiana to pay off debts at the school. The transaction was one of the most thoroughly documented large sales of enslaved people in history. Tickets are sold out but people can watch a livestream of it on the Facebook page of the Midlo Center for New Orleans Studies. Press STATE BRIEF NEW ORLEANS Jury deliberations began Sunday evening in the case of aman charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith after an April 9 car crash.

Cardell Hayes, 29, took the stand a day earlier to tell jurors he only fired after Smith pulled a gun from his damaged SUV following that crash and only after hearing what he thought was a gunshot as Smith and another man berated him after the crash. But, during the weeklong trial, Hayes was the only witness to say Smith handled a gun that night. Prosecutors said he was lying and that ballistics tests indicated that the only gun fired was fired by Hayes. State district Judge Camille Buras told jurors they could find Hayes not guilty, guilty as charged or guilty of the lesser crimes of manslaughter or negligent homicide. The second-degree murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence.

Hayes also was charged with attempted second-degree murder for the wounding of wife, Racquel, and aggravated criminal damage to property for allegedly ramming SUV in the run-up to the shooting. Jurors left the courtroom to begin discussing the case just before 5 p.m. CST, after hearing close to six hours of closing arguments prosecutors who said Smith was and from a defense attorney who said police and prosecutors rushed to judgment. Defense lawyer John Fuller warned jurors not to be by the array of past and present New Orleans Saints stars who visited the weeklong trial to show support for family. young man tried his best, trying to avoid doing what he had to Fuller shouted during a thundering closing argument that lasted more than three and a half hours.

Prosecutors said Rac- qel Smith was hit by a gunshot that tore into her leg after she had calmed her angry husband down at the crash scene. then listened as the love of her life, the father of her children, was Assistant District Attorney Jason Napoli said in closing arguments, noting that Hayes fired into body eight times, once in the side, seven in the back. Saints coach Sean Payton, quarterback Drew Brees, and former running back Deuce McAllister were among those who attended parts of the weeklong trial. Former Saints safety Steve Gleason, battling Lou disease, watched closing arguments Sunday from his wheelchair in the middle aisle. Napoli dismissed defense claims that a drunken Smith was the aggressor and that Hayes was defending himself in accordance with your law.

That law apply, Napoli said, because Hayes was the aggressor and was engaged in a criminal act, having armed himself after he purposely rammed his Hummer into Mercedes SUV. Aloaded gun was found in vehicle but a firearms expert said there was no evidence Smith brandished or fired it. Fuller told jurors that Hayes was the victim of an incomplete investigation. He said police failed to take a DNA sample from a cup found on the crime scene. (Hayes said Smith had thrown a drink cup at him at the beginning of their confrontation).

Fuller also said investigators failed to obtain video from a bar and two restaurants that Smith had visited with friends prior to the shooting, video that might have helped in gauging temperament that night. report showed Smith was legally drunk, with a high alcohol level at the time of his death. He was driving with a group of friends traveling in multiple cars when his SUV appeared to lightly bump Hummer a bump captured on surveillance videos. Smith then drove off, with Hayes in pursuit. Hayes vehemently denied that he intentionally rammed vehicle several blocks later.

He told the jury that he was trying to dial 911 and realize how close they were as he tried to report a hit-and-run. Hayes is a small business owner, former semiprofessional football player and father of a 6- year-old son. He said an admirer of career and realize the man he killed was Smith until hours after the shooting, while he was in police custody. Deliberations begin in trial of ex-Saints killer KEVIN MCGILL ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW ORLEANS Writing a book about Tom Benson has its challenges. The venerable owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans is one of the most polarizing and powerful public figures in Louisiana, so the subject matter is sensitive.

life story is also extraordinarily complex. It traverses multiple states, three marriages, entangled personal relationships and countless powerhouse business deals. It also includes inordinate heartache. a lot there. But Kathy Finn also knew the book project, once completed, would prove enormously rewarding.

The finished product Benson: A by Pelican Publishing Company took 15 months to complete and is the first comprehensive chronicle of life, a rags-to-riches journey from humble beginnings in the Depression-era 7th Ward to becoming the richest man in Louisiana and billionaire owner of New two major professional sports franchises. exhaustively researched and footnoted biography is the most definitive look yet at Benson and his improbable ascension to fame, wealth and power. believe that the story is not only interesting, and at times entertaining, but instructive for a wide range of people for diverse Finn writes in the introduction to the 320-page book. life holds lessons for families, whether or not they are wealthy; for business owners and entrepreneurs; for cities that are home to major league sports teams and the fans who love the teams; and for anyone whose life has been touched by tragedy and has had to figure out how to move Benson did not authorize or participate in the project, nor did his wife, Gayle, his estranged heirs, Renee, Rita and Ryan LeBlanc, or any current Saints or Pelicans executives. Finn, who has covered business and news as a journalist in southeastern Louisiana for three decades, relied heavily on research and interviews with family members, friends, business associates, former employees and of Benson to construct an enlightened portrait of Benson and illustrate his complex family tree.

This is not a fawning portrait. Finn shy from controversy, and with Benson there is plenty. She documents his ruthless business dealings, notorious negotiat- ing tactics, controversial tenure in post-Katrina San Antonio and the sordid family feud with his estranged heirs that rocked New Orleans and dominated headlines for the past two years. At the same time, Finn paints Benson as a sympathetic figure. She chronicles the inordinate tragedy Benson experienced in his life, the early deaths of two children, two wives and three brothers.

heartbreak is Finn said. As well, she tries to explain some of motivations and personality traits by liberally quoting Thayer Willis, author of the Dark Side of who specializes in counseling wealthy clients. think my bottom line on Tom Benson is, an extraordinarily tough and savvy businessman who pursued wealth with a sometimes-brutal Finn said. handling of his NFL team likely has earned him lasting esteem, but his carefully laid plans to do right by his family ultimately collapsed in a late-life Finn said most of the early reviews of the book have been positive. She said she has not received any reaction from the Bensons, their representatives or executives from the Saints and Pelicans organizations.

Book illustrates life of polarizing Saints owner Tom Benson JEFF DUNCAN THE TIMES-PICAYUNE.