After a body was found less than a mile from his home over a week ago, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez has been embroiled in a murder investigation and he could be facing life in prison for the shooting of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-professional football player.
Hernandez was a star tight end for the New England Patriots after coming out of the University of Florida and now he is behind bars for murder, a swift fall that has tarnished the image of the NFL. Hernandez leaves his fiance Shayanna Jenkins at home alone with his eight-month-old daughter and the case has brought up numerous questions about the star, including whether he was involved in a double murder in Boston that is unsolved from last July.
Hernandez's past has also come under scrutiny since the murder charges, including his time growing up in Bristol as well as his life while playing at the University of Florida. Hernandez had issues with drugs in college and was suspended one game for failing a test and he also reportedly hung out with a rough crowd back in his home town. Other reports have also come out that links Hernandez to another shooting in Florida and he once got into an altercation with a bouncer at a nightclub during his first year at school.
Numerous details about the murder have come out since Hernandez has been arrested, including that Lloyd was shot five times and that shell casings found on the scene match ones that Hernandez owned. Police said the body was found in an industrial park less than a mile from the home of Hernandez and lawyers said text messages and video showed Hernandez and the victim together before the murder and the tight end returning home minutes after shots were reportedly fired.
Two other men are in custody in relation to the murder and Hernandez was released by the Patriots despite them giving him a $40 million contract. The team will take a salary cap hit for it and Hernandez cleared waivers after he was released and if he ever gets out of jail, he could later face a suspension or a fine from the league. Hernandez is also facing five gun charges and he was denied bail twice, including after his lawyers tried to argue that he was not a flight risk due to his high profile identity.