BOSTON (WHDH) - Former Patriots star Aaron Hernandez showed no warning signs in the hours before he apparently committing suicide in his prison cell early Wednesday morning, leaving his fiancee and attorneys in shock.
Hernandez seemed “perfectly normal” before his death, an individual who spoke with 27-year-old Tuesday night told 7’s Byron Barnett. Hernandez had a renewed sense of hope following last week’s double-murder acquittal, the source said.
“We are all in shock and deeply saddened by the loss of Aaron Joseph Hernandez,” attorney Robert Proctor said. “He was a gracious, kind and generous person who treated us all with the utmost respect. We generally liked Aaron as a person. He was an eternal optimist. It’s very hard for me to accept the fact that he committed suicide.”
Proctor said the Hernandez that he knew would have never killed himself. Brian Murphy, Hernandez’s former agent, tweeted there was “absolutely no chance” that Hernandez would have taken his own life.
Hernandez was said to be talking about how he was looking forward to an upcoming visit from his fiancee Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez and his 4-year-old daughter, Avielle Janelle Hernandez.
A source also told Barnett that Jenkins-Hernandez spoke with Hernandez on Tuesday and that he seemed “fine.” Jenkins-Hernandez is reportedly devastated by her fiancee’s sudden death.
Hernandez, 27, was found by guards at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley just after 3 a.m., Department of Correction spokesman Christopher Fallon said in a statement.
Attorney Jose Baez questioned the facts and circumstances surrounding Hernandez’s reported suicide, calling on authorities to conduct a “transparent and thorough investigation.” He is flying from Florida to Massachusetts to speak with Jenkins-Hernandez and Hernandez’s family.
The Office of the Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy to determine the exact cause of his death.
Hernandez was acquitted of double murder last week.
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