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Prosecutors in Cardell Hayes trial talk about evidence, challenges

NEW ORLEANS -- For months, each member of the Orleans Parish District Attorney's office remained silent, focusing solely on the case.

Monday afternoon, a day after a verdict in the case was reached, lawyers held a press conference finally talking about the case and the challenges they faced.

MORE: Cardell Hayes guilty of manslaughter

"I felt their emotion behind me to a great deal," Assistant District Attorney Laura Rodrigue said while describing the atmosphere inside of the courtroom. "This (the press conference) is sort of the glamorous part of it, but what's not so glamorous is the days and days and days we have spent in this office," Rodrigue said.

Rodrigue and Napoli said they knew the high-profile case would be an uphill battle. They added their biggest challenge was testimonies from multiple eyewitnesses who arrived on the crime scene shortly after Will Smith was shot and killed April 9.

"We knew the jury was going to sort of wrestle with the idea that people are hearing different things and what do we make of this," Rodrigue said.

Despite those challenges, the DA's offices believed the burden of proof came down to one thing: evidence.

ALSO: Jury was close to deadlock in Hayes trial during deliberations, alternate juror says

"When we started calling the experts, when we started getting into the ballistics and to the coroner, it really corroborated all of our witnesses and in addition to that, when we compare the story that Cardell Hayes was giving, it was just simply impossible. It wasn't a matter of do you believe this witness, or this witness. Are you willing to ignore basic science, basic math to endorse the story of Cardell Hayes," Napoli said.

The DA's office pushed for a second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder conviction, but they understand why the jury chose the lesser charge of manslaughter.

"We knew we were going to have to deal with the actions of Richard Hernandez as being what we would best describe as ridiculous. However, we thought it wouldn't be a factor in determining why Cardell Hayes pulled the gun and murdered Will Smith," Rodrigue explained.

In the end, the attorneys said they can only hope Sunday night's verdict is the first step in giving the Smith family some form of closure.

VIDEO: Orleans Parish DA pushes for maximum sentence in Will Smith shooting case

WWL-TV reached out to Defense Attorney John Fuller, but are waiting to hear back. Fuller gave a brief statement Sunday night to the press and also wrote a statement on his Instagram account.

"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 We put our all into it, and the Lord protected you from a life sentence, but the fight is far from over and our journey has just begun. Pray for #smith family, pray for #hayes family, pray for #justice #justicestillaintblind #justice4bear Love you lil brother.

A photo posted by John Fuller (@fuller4u) on

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