Aaron Hernandez

Athlete

November 6, 1989 – April 19, 2017

Former NFL tight end Aaron Hernandez has passed away at the age 27.

Hernandez was found dead in his jail cell from an apparent suicide according to Massachusetts Department of Corrections.  At 3:05 AM guards found Hernandez had hung himself with a bedsheet attached to his jail cell window.  He was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead at 4:07 AM.

Hernandez was recently acquitted of double murder charges stemming from a drive by shooting outside a Boston nightclub in July 2012.  Hernandez was quite emotional and tearing up when the not guilty verdict was returned.

In 2015 Hernandez was found guilty for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player that was dating Hernandez’s fiancé’s sister.  Hernandez’s attorneys had filed for an appeal in this case.

Hernandez was talented and rising football star.  In 2009 he won a BCS National Championship with his college team the Florida Gators.  He was selected in the 4^th round of the 2010 NFL draft by the New England Patriots.  In 2012 he signed a 5-year contract extension with the Patriots for $40 million dollars.  Upon his arrest in 2013, the Patriots released him.

Ronald Sullivan, attorney for Hernandez’s family released a statement thanking people “for their thoughtful expressions of condolences”. He went on to say “the family appreciates being able to say goodbye in privacy.  They love and miss him”.