Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell in the early morning hours of 19 April 2017, at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.
Hernandez was found hanged at approximately three o'clock in the morning, prison officials said in a statement. He died just days after he was acquitted of charges related to a double murder.
In the statement, Department of Correction spokesman Christophe Fallon said Hernandez had hanged himself with a bedsheet and sought to circumvent intervention:
Mr. Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population unit. Mr. Hernandez hanged himself utilizing a bedsheet that he attached to his cell window. Mr. Hernandez also attempted to block his door from the inside by jamming the door with various items.
Fallon said that Hernandez was "not on a [suicide] watch because there was no indication he was considering harming himself." No note was found in his cell.
Although Hernandez's acquittal cleared him on charges related to the 2012 shooting deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston, he was still serving a life sentence for his conviction in the 2013 shooting of Odin Lloyd, who was dating Jenkins-Hernandez's sister. Patriots spokesperson Stacey James said the team was "aware of the reports," but he didn't "anticipate that [they] will be commenting" immediately.
Aaron Hernandez was pronounced dead just after four o'clock in the morning on 19 April 2017 at UMass Memorial-HealthAlliance Hospital. He was 27.