Aaron Hernandez's Fiancee May Sue Prison For Failing To Prevent His Suicide
April 22 2017, Updated 5:53 p.m. ET
Controversy continues to swirl over Aaron Hernandez's shocking suicide, and now, the former football player's fiancée is considering a negligence lawsuit against state prison officials for failing to prevent it, the Boston Globe has reported.
Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, the mother of Hernandez's daughter, could take legal action in the wake of the ex-New England Patriots star hanging himself at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.
On Friday, attorney George Leontire, who is representing Hernandez's fiancée, said in court that the family was concerned about the investigation into Hernandez's death, and requested an order requiring the Department of Correction to preserve evidence.
Judge Thomas McGuire reportedly granted the order.
Leontire told the court that Jenkins-Hernandez, who is the personal representative of Hernandez's estate, could bring a civil action against the state for "negligent supervision or negligence" in his death.
According to Leontire, an alleged time lag between checks of Hernandez's prison cell Tuesday night into Wednesday morning was an "extraordinary violation" of department procedure.
"There is some discussion — again, these are leaks, I don't know if they're true or not — that the guard who failed to check Mr. Hernandez during that period of time has been put on some sort of disciplinary action or leave. I don't know," Leontire said.
The Department of Correction hasn't commented about the alleged discipline of the guard.
In previous court papers, the Boston Globe reported, Leontire wrote that Hernandez's family plans to investigate all the circumstances of his death and a second, independent autopsy was conducted on Thursday. Results are pending.
Jenkins-Hernandez, the mother of Hernandez's daughter Avielle, 4, never wed the athlete but took his last name.
She remained fiercely loyal to Hernandez and brought their little girl to court during jury deliberations in his second trial. The former football star blew kisses to his daughter in the courtroom.
The family's attorney claimed that state officials leaked information about Hernandez's apparent suicide notes without contacting his family first.
"We don't know what those suicide notes say, if they are suicide notes," he noted.
Hernandez allegedly had a gay secret and left one of his suicide notes for his prison boyfriend, as Newsweek reported.
As RadarOnline.com has reported, Hernandez, 27, was found dead of a suicide in prison days after his acquittal in a 2012 double murder. The former NFL tight end had
already been serving a life sentence, beginning in 2015, for the 2013 killing of Odin Loyd.
RadarOnline.com learned that the former New England Patriots star's guilty conviction will be voided following his suicide.
Chief legal counsel to the Massachusetts Bar Association Martin W. Healy explained that the legal principle "abatement ab initio," meaning "from the beginning," made Hernandez an innocent man.
Also on Friday, the attorney for Lloyd's mother asked the Patriots to become "champions of justice" by agreeing to pay $6 million to Hernandez's estate, a move that would make that money available to Lloyd's family.
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