Thursday, March 28, 2024

Judge Tosses Aaron Hernandez’s Murder Conviction Due to Suicide Before Appeal

Aaron Hernandez was serving a life sentence in prison. (ANGELA ROWLINGS/AP)
Aaron Hernandez was serving a life sentence in prison.

*Late former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez no longer has the convicted murderer tag attached to his name.

Citing legal precedent, Superior Court Judge E. Susan Garsh, on Tuesday, vacated Hernandez’s first-degree murder conviction for the 2013 shooting of Odin L. Lloyd because his trial was not reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court before his apparent suicide last month.

Garsh, who had overseen the murder trial, announced her decision from the bench as Lloyd’s mother, Ursula Ward, sat in the courtroom.

Also in the courtroom was Shaneah Jenkins, Lloyd’s girlfriend at the time of his murder. Her twin sister, Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez, is the long-time fiancée of Hernandez and the mother of their 4-year-old daughter.

Garsh also said prosecutors from Bristol District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III’s office did not convince her that Hernandez’s apparent suicide in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center was a voluntary act solely aimed at having the conviction vacated.

His death, she said, sprang from complex and myriad issues, including possible “mental disturbance” as well as concerns about news reports that he was a gay that were broadcast a day before his death.

Shaneah Jenkins wiped tears from her eyes as she left the courtroom.

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING