Former NFl star Aaron Hernandez hanged himself in his prison cell early Wednesday while serving a life sentence for murder, authorities said.
Hernandez, 27, was found by guards at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley just after 3 am, Department of Correction spokesman Christopher Fallon said in a statement. The former New England Patriots tight end was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour later. His death comes just days after he was acquitted of a double murder and on the same day the Patriots were set to visit the White House to mark their Super Bowl win. The team had no immediate comment.
Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population housing unit in the maximum-security state prison. He hanged himself with a bed sheet that he attached to a window, Fallon said. Hernandez tried to block the cell door from the inside by jamming it with various items, Fallon said. He added that he's not aware of any suicide note written by Hernandez. He said that officials had no concern that Hernandez might take his own life, and said if they had had any such worries he would have been transferred to a mental health unit.
Hernandez was moved to tears on Friday after he was acquitted of the 2012 fatal shootings of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston. Before his acquittal, Hernandez on Wednesday was seen blowing kisses to the little girl he fathered with fiancée Shayanna Jenkins. Cameras captured the tender exchange.
Hernandez grew up in Connecticut and played for the Patriots from 2010 to 2012.