Former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez is set to be arraigned Friday on a first-degree murder charge following his indictment in the killing of a friend. The arraignment in Fall River Superior Court is scheduled for Friday afternoon. A Massachusetts grand jury indicted Hernandez last month in the death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd.
Hernandez was arrested in June and pleaded not guilty to murder and weapons charges in district court. The indictment moved the case to superior court.
Prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated Lloyd’s killing because he was upset at Lloyd for talking to some people Hernandez had problems with. Lloyd was found shot in the back in June in North Attleboro.
Defense attorneys say the evidence is circumstantial and don’t believe the state’s case will hold up.
In an interview with New England Cable News, Lloyd’s girlfriend Shaneah Jenkins spoke out for the first time since Lloyd’s murder. Jenkins said she met Lloyd two years ago.
Jenkins said in the interview, “I’m still kind of in denial. In my head I kind of tell myself that this is one of the moments he is in Boston and I’m in Connecticut, and so I really haven’t processed that part yet. It’s really hard.”
Jenkins introduced Lloyd to Hernandez. She knew Hernandez because her older sister is engaged to Hernandez and has a baby with him. During the interview she didn’t talk about Hernandez or her sister, she said she just wants to focus on Lloyd’s memory.
Hernandez was scheduled to be arraigned at 2 o’clock Friday afternoon. He was expected to make another request for bail.