Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Hernandez grew up in Bristol, Connecticut, played professional football for the New England Patriots, and was the father of a young daughter, Avielle, with his fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez. He died at age 27 in his single cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts, early on April 19, 2017. Prison officials said he hanged himself with a bedsheet tied to his cell window, and the state medical examiner ruled the death a suicide by asphyxia. A state police report released in May said a guard missed a round, leaving him unobserved for about an hour before he was found, and his fiancée and his lawyers say he would never have taken his own life and have called for an independent investigation.
Cause of death, as reported: Died by suicide (disputed; neglect alleged). The Department of Correction and the medical examiner say he hanged himself, while his fiancée, family, lawyers and former agent dispute that he took his own life and call for an independent investigation, and one account says a guard missed a round, leaving him unobserved for about an hour.
Reported by: Massachusetts Department of Correction (the agency that held him); Chief Medical Examiner Henry N. Nields (medical examiner or coroner); Worcester County District Attorney's Office (outside investigators); Massachusetts State Police (outside investigators); his fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez (family or their lawyers); his lawyer Jose Baez (family or their lawyers); former agent Brian Murphy (family or their lawyers).
Lawsuit: His fiancée sought court orders to preserve evidence and records from the Department of Correction, and his family sued the NFL in federal court over concussion risks, a case later dropped without prejudice to refile in state court.
Sources (82)
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- What we know about Aaron Hernandez's life in prison - ABC News
- Former Patriots football player Aaron Hernandez found dead in prison cell - ABC News
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- Aaron Hernandez’s Brain Will Be Donated to C.T.E. Research Center (Published 2017)
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- Family asking judge for order on Aaron Hernandez evidence so death can be investigated - The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Aaron Hernandez’s prison suicide and the communities the ex-Patriots star and convicted murderer leaves behind
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- Inmate’s lawyer demands release of alleged Hernandez note
- Questions continue to surround the prison life and death of Aaron Hernandez
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- Prosecutors want to keep Hernandez’s conviction intact
- New details on Aaron Hernandez’s death released in police report
- Report: Aaron Hernandez was naked when found hanged in cell
- Aaron Hernandez suicide note to fiancée: 'You're rich'
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- Aaron Hernandez’s suicide seen as ‘religious message’
- 'Know you are an angel' Aaron Hernandez tells fiancée in suicide note - ABC News
- Drawings and ‘John 3:16’ were written in blood on Aaron Hernandez’s cell wall
- Behind the Wall: Suicides Mount in Massachusetts County Jails
- Aaron Hernandez suicide note to fiance: You're rich
- Aaron Hernandez left note in blood on cell wall before suicide
- Aaron Hernandez's fiancee: 'I don't think this was a suicide' - ABC News
- Aaron Hernandez's Fiancée: Shayanna Jenkins Breaks Her Silence, Talks Former NFL Death [VIDEO]
- Aaron Hernandez’s Family Drops C.T.E. Suit Against N.F.L., for Now (Published 2017)
- All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez
- Massachusetts Sees Highest Number Of Inmate Suicides Since 2014
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