Local News

Aaron Hernandez Found Guilty

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the June 2013 killing of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.

First-degree murder guarantees life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Twelve jurors, who deliberated for seven days, found Hernandez killed Lloyd on June 17, 2013. Lloyd, 27, was dating the sister of Hernandez's fiancee.

Hernandez showed little emotion as the guilty verdict was read. The jury also found Hernandez guilty on ammunition and gun possession charges.

Hernandez's mother, Terri, and his fiancee, Shayanna Jenkins, embraced and cried at the announcement.

Prosecutors said Hernandez and two other men, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, drove with Lloyd to a North Attleboro, Massachusetts industrial park, where Lloyd was shot six times and left for dead. A jogger found Lloyd's body less than a mile from Hernandez's home.

However, the murder weapon was never found and prosecutors called 132 witnesses, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, in an effort to prove Hernandez pulled the trigger on the handgun that killed Lloyd.

Hernandez's lawyer, James Sultan, acknowledged for the first time during closing arguments that Hernandez was there when Lloyd was killed. But the attorney said the actual crime must have been committed by either Wallace or Ortiz, saying his client was a "23-year-old kid" who witnessed a shocking crime and didn't know what to do.

The jurors said they were shocked by the defense admission that the former Patriots player was at the scene of the killing.

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Local Weather - Sponsored By:

CLINTON WEATHER

Local News

DeWittDN on Facebook