Judge sets bond for woman charged in deadly driver shooting

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A Clayton County Superior Court judge set a $100,000 bond Friday for a woman charged with shooting another driver to death.

The judge set the bond for 21-year-old Hannah Payne after hearing arguments from defense attorneys and prosecutors.

The judge also ordered that Payne wear an ankle monitor and not have a firearm even though she has a concealed weapon’s license.

Authorities charged Payne with murder after they say she followed a truck involved in a fender bender on May 7th. Investigators say she blocked Kenneth Herring on the side of Riverdale Road and shot him during a confrontation.

As she did during a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Payne cried during Friday’s bond hearing.

Prosecutors told the judge it appears Herring was having a medical issue and heading to the hospital, and that’s the reason he drove erratically.

During Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, a detective testified Payne confronted the 62-year-old driver while on the phone with a 911 emergency operator.

“In the background, you can hear Payne yelling: ‘Get out of the truck!  Get the f*@# out of the truck! Then there is silence, and she gets back on the phone and says, ‘He shot himself with my gun,’” Clayton County Detective Keon Hayward told the court. 

During Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, defense attorneys maintained the gunfire was a result of a scuffle, where Payne’s shirt was ripped, her chest and face clawed.  

Defense attorney Matt Tucker told the court Tuesday that the incident was a case of citizens’ arrest.

On Tuesday, the judge found probable cause and moved the case forward, much to Herring’s widow’s satisfaction.

“Her crying is an act to me. I wouldn’t want to go to prison. I’d be crying also,” Christine Herring told FOX 5 outside the courtroom.