Background edit
Odin Lloyd edit
Odin Leonardo John Lloyd was born on November 14, 1985, in Saint Croix, part of the United States Virgin Islands. He was raised by his mother Ursula Ward first in Antigua and then in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.[1] His father John resided in the West Indies, and their relationship was limited. As an adolescent, Lloyd was a linebacker for the American football team at John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics & Science, but his poor grades precluded him from receiving much recruitment from NCAA Division I colleges.[2] Lloyd was ultimately admitted to Delaware State University, but he dropped out and moved back to Dorchester after losing his student financial aid.[3] There, he worked for a power company and as a landscaper while playing semi-professional football for the Boston Bandits.[4] Although he enjoyed playing for the Bandits, Lloyd struggled financially and sometimes had to wear his teammates' jerseys because he could not pay the team dues.[5] Lloyd had been arrested twice, once for a fight in 2008 and once for breaking and entering in 2010, but both charges were dismissed.[6]
Aaron Hernandez edit
Aaron Josef Hernandez was born on November 6, 1989, in Bristol, Connecticut.[7] As a child, Hernandez, his brother, and their mother were abused by Hernandez's father, who struggled with alcohol abuse. Hernandez had also been sexually abused throughout his childhood by an older boy.[8][9] When Hernandez was 16 years old, his father died from complications following hernia surgery. Hernandez had difficulty coping with his father's death, and he began using drugs around this time. A star American football player at Bristol Central High School, Hernandez originally committed to play college football for the UConn Huskies. He reneged on this commitment, however, and attended the University of Florida after leaving high school early.[10] After three seasons playing for the Florida Gators, Hernandez announced that he was leaving college early to enter the 2010 NFL draft.[11] Although he was expected to be taken in the second round of that year's draft, multiple National Football League (NFL) teams overlooked Hernandez over character concerns, including failed drug tests.[12] The New England Patriots ultimately drafted him in the fourth round, 113th overall.[13]
Hernandez had several legal issues throughout his collegiate and professional football career. In 2007, his first year in Florida, Hernandez admitted to punching a restaurant employee, perforating his eardrum over an unpaid bill.[14] That same year, he was one of several Florida football players implicated in a double shooting in Gainesville, Florida.[15] While one victim's description of the shooter matched that of Hernandez, other witnesses did not corroborate this testimony, and the victim eventually recanted Hernandez's involvement.[16]
Shooting edit
Investigation edit
Trial and convictions edit
Initial trial edit
Abatement ab initio edit
At approximately 3:05 a.m. (ET) on the morning of April 19, 2017, guards at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center found Hernandez unresponsive in his cell, hanging from his bed sheets in an apparent suicide. He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.[17] At the time, he had been assigned to a single cell in the general population housing unit; because corrections officers did not believe he was at risk of suicide, Hernandez was not placed in a mental health unit.[18] Hernandez had attempted to block entrance into his cell by placing cardboard in the door tracks. He had drawn on the walls of his cell with blood, and he had written John 3:16 on his forehead in ink. The Bible in his cell had been opened to the passage, which was also marked in blood.[19]
Upon his death, Hernandez's murder conviction was vacated upon the principle of abatement ab initio.[20] Under the principle, a defendant who dies before exhausting all of his appeals is reverted back to the presumption of innocence. Hernandez, having been sentenced to life without parole, had his conviction immediately appealed to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.[21] On June 23, Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn III appealed the decision to vacate Hernandez's conviction, calling the rule "archaic" and arguing that it "does not serve the public interest", as someone "who commits suicide should not be able to manipulate the outcome of his post-conviction proceedings to achieve in death what he would not be able to achieve in life".[22] On March 13, 2019, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court overturned the entire principle of abatement ab initio, ruling that it was "outdated and no longer consonant with the circumstances of contemporary life, if, in fact, it ever was". As a result, Hernandez's conviction was reinstated postmortem, and the principle would not be applied to any future inmate deaths. For cases in which ab initio had already been applied, the defendant's conviction would remain vacated.[23][24]
Accomplice convictions edit
Hours after the shooting took place, Carlos Ortiz was arraigned and charged with carrying a firearm without a license.[25] Prosecutors originally charged Ortiz with accessory after the fact of murder, which was later upgraded to a murder charge. He pled not guilty on May 27, 2014, and was ordered held without bail by the Bristol County Superior Court.[26] Ortiz's attorneys agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors, and on June 27, 2016, he pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact; in turn, the murder charge was dropped. Ortiz was subsequently sentenced to 4+1⁄2 to 7 years in prison.[27][28]
Aftermath edit
References edit
- ^ McCarthy, John (April 16, 2015). "Hernandez's Murder Victim Was From St. Croix". VI Consortium. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Merrill, Elizabeth (July 1, 2013). "Aaron Hernandez, Odin Lloyd were connected in life and death". ESPN. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Patterson, James; Abramovich, Alex (2018). All-American Murder: The Rise and Fall of Aaron Hernandez, the Superstar Whose Life Ended on Murderers' Row. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-316-41265-0. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ DeCosta-Klipa, Nik (April 15, 2015). "Who Was Odin Lloyd?". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Pennington, Bill (June 29, 2013). "N.F.L. Star and Murder Victim: Where Diverse Paths Crossed". The New York Times. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Arsenault, Mark; Lowery, Wesley; Ballou, Brian (June 19, 2013). "Dorchester man's family pleads for justice after his body is found in North Attleborough; man was acquaintance of Patriots star Aaron Hernandez". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Kerr-Dineen, Luke (April 19, 2017). "A timeline of key dates in Aaron Hernandez's life". USA Today. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Hohler, Bob; Healy, Beth; Pfeiffer, Sacha; Ryan, Andrew; Wen, Patricia (October 13, 2018). "The secrets behind the smile". The Boston Globe. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Levenson, Eric (October 31, 2018). "9 fascinating lines from Aaron Hernandez's brother's new book". CNN. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Altimari, Dave; Carlson, Suzanne (June 22, 2013). "For Aaron Hernandez, Trouble A Persistent Opponent". Hartford Courant. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ "TE Hernandez leaving Florida early". ESPN. Associated Press. January 6, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Wesseling, Chris (July 2, 2013). "Bengals, Colts skipped Aaron Hernandez in 2010 draft". National Football League. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Reiss, Mike (April 24, 2010). "Patriots start Day 3 with another TE". ESPN. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Manahan, Kevin (July 2, 2013). "Tim Tebow couldn't stop Aaron Hernandez from slugging bouncer in 2007". USA Today. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Naqi, Kelly (July 3, 2013). "Hernandez role in '07 shooting probed". ESPN. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ Lowery, Wesley (April 19, 2017). "Aaron Hernandez was recently cleared of involvement in a 2007 Florida double shooting". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
- ^ "Ex-Patriots player Aaron Hernandez, 27, found hanged in prison cell". USA Today. April 19, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Aaron Hernandez found dead after hanging in prison cell". ESPN. April 19, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Levenson, Eric; Simko-Bednarski, Evan (May 5, 2017). "New details on Aaron Hernandez's apparent suicide in prison". CNN. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Bonesteel, Matt (April 19, 2017). "In wake of his death, Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction will be voided". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Axson, Scooby (April 19, 2017). "Hernandez murder conviction in Lloyd case to be voided". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Prosecutors appeal Aaron Hernandez's voided murder conviction". ESPN. Associated Press. June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Sweet, Laurel J.; Sutherland, Brooks (March 13, 2019). "Decision on Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction hailed by prosecutors". Boston Herald. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Commonwealth v. Hernandez, SJC 12501 (Mass. March 13, 2019).
- ^ Manahan, Kevin (June 28, 2013). "Second man arrested in Hernandez case extradited to Massachusetts". USA Today. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ O'Connor, Kevin P. (May 27, 2014). "Carlos Ortiz pleads not guilty to killing Odin Lloyd, ordered held without bail". The Herald News. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ Crook, Lawrence; Melendez, Pilar (June 28, 2016). "Friend of Aaron Hernandez takes plea deal in 2013 death". CNN. Retrieved June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Carlos Ortiz changes plea to guilty to accessory after the fact". ESPN. June 27, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2022.