The Aaron Hernandez murder trial for the killing of Odin Lloyd starts on Friday and girlfriend Shayanna Jenkins will be permitted to be in court despite the possibility she could be a witness in the case and there was an immunity hearing on Wednesday that granted Hernandez's cousin Jennifer Mercado immunity in the case and Jenkins could also be in line for the same request.
According to ESPN.com, Bristol Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh allowed for Mercado to get immunity, as the prosecution requested that she be allowed to speak on the case without issues. Mercado is the sister of Hernandez's cousin Tanya Singleton, who lived at the home that police searched following the murder in Bristol. That same house is where accomplices Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz were knows to stay and also where they drove after the murder of Lloyd.
The previous news had the judge rule that Jenkins and Hernandez's mother Terri be allowed in court despite the fact that they could be witnesses in the case. The judge ruled in favor of the defense on that motion and it comes as the fiancé of Hernandez has had to deal with raising her baby daughter Avielle Janelle on her own since he was arrested. According to ESPN.com, Jenkins also faces perjury charges related to the case and police believe that she helped hide the murder weapon.
Jury selection in the trial starts up on Friday and that will begin things over a year after Hernandez was arrested. The prosecution also petitioned Jenkins to get immunity in the case, but the request was not made public at time of the story. Hernandez faces first degree murder charges in the death of Lloyd and that is on top of two other charges he faces stemming from another shooting that left two men dead a year prior to this murder.
Lloyd was found dead in June and Hernandez was arrested a little over a week later after the body was discovered less than a mile from his home. Michael McCann at SI.com wrote a bit about the decisions, saying that it would be very big for Jenkins to get immunity, as he may have "disposed" of the gun that was used in the murder. The gun in this case was never found and that could play into how the defense argues the case.
Hernandez and Lloyd were connected through Jenkins, as Lloyd was dating Jenkins' sister at the time of his death. Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace are also involved and they were allegedly with Hernandez the night of the murder. It's unclear exactly who pulled the trigger and why, but as the trial begins things are shaping up a bit better than expected for the prosecution. Hernandez was a young star rising in the NFL and had just signed a lucrative contract extension months before he was arrested on first degree murder charges for the death of Lloyd.