Aaron Hernandez committed suicide in prison Wednesday morning, according to the Massachusetts Department of Correction.
According to a statement from the Massachusetts Department of Correction, the former New England Patriot star was discovered hanging in his cell at the Souza Baranowski Correctional Center in Shirley, Massachusetts at approximately 3:05 a.m.
“Mr. Hernandez was in a single cell in a general population unit. Mr. Hernandez hanged himself utilizing a bedsheet that he attached to his cell window. Mr. Hernandez also attempted to block his door from the inside by jamming the door with various items.”
State Police are investigating and his family has been notified.
Hernandez’s suicide incident occurred five days after he was acquitted of murdering two men in Boston in 2012. He was still serving a sentence of life without parole at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts for murdering Odin L. Lloyd in North Attleborough in 2013.
Hernandez was drafted by the New England Patriots as the 15th pick in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft, and was released by the Patriots in June 2013 immediately after his arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd — a linebacker for a New England Football League (NEFL) semi-professional football team, the Boston Bandits. Lloyd was shot and killed in an industrial park.