Former New England Patriots player Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his jail cell just days after he was found not guilty in a Boston double murder case. According to the Massachusetts Department of Correction, the 27-year-old Connecticut native hanged himself with a bed sheet in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Prison in the early morning hours on April 19.
The 27-year-old Connecticut native cried in court last week when the not guilty verdicts were read. He was found guilty on only one charge — possession of a firearm – in the 2012 murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.
His lawyer, Jose Baez told reporters that his next plan of action was to retry the Odin Lloyd murder case. Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the murder and Baez was hopeful that a retrial would find his client not guilty.
Aaron Hernandez found dead the day his former teammates head to White House
Many of Aaron Hernandez' former New England Patriots teammates are headed to the White House today to celebrate their recent Super Bowl win. Aaron was a rising star with the team. In 2012, he signed a five-year contract extension worth $40 million, purchased a $1.5 million home in Attleboro, Massachusetts and welcomed his daughter, Avielle, into the world on his birthday, November 6.
At this time, there are no reports that point to Aaron leaving a note in his cell, but CNN states that prison officials found the former NFL player hanging by a bed sheet shortly after 3 a.m.
ET.
A statement from the Souza-Baranowski prison reveals that Hernandez was alone in his cell in a general population wing of the prison and had "attempted to block his door" to the cell by jamming it with "various items."
Appeal of Odin Lloyd murder case was 'winnable' says Hernandez' lawyer
Aaron Hernandez was serving a life sentence for the June 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.
However, Attorney Jose Baez, who represented him in the Boston double murder case, was confident that he would be able to overturn the conviction.
Last week, Baez told TMZ that there was "no finality" in the Odin Lloyd case and he felt that the appeal would lead to a "winnable case." Had Hernandez retained him as his attorney when the case was initially tried, Baez felt that he would not have been convicted.
“Aaron’s not a killer," Baez told TMZ. "If he’s guilty of anything it’s guilty of not forgetting where he came from, and hanging around the wrong group of people."
However, if Baez did take on the case he wasn't sure that Hernandez could afford to pay him, noting that the former Patriots tight end had "very little money left."
