It appears Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, Aaron Hernandez’s fiancée, is considering legal action against Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center, where the former New England Patriots tight end committed suicide Wednesday morning.
According to The Boston Globe, a Bristol County Superior Court judge on Friday ordered the Massachusetts Department of Correction to preserve all evidence related to Hernandez’s death, as Jenkins-Hernandez might file a negligence lawsuit against state prison officials for failing to prevent her fiancé’s suicide.
Jenkins-Hernandez’s lawyer, George Leontire, told the court that his camp was “very concerned about the loss of evidence in this case,” per The Globe. Not only that, but Leontire believes the Shirley, Mass., prison, where Hernandez was serving life without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, committed an “extraordinary violation” of department procedure the morning of the ex-Patriot’s death.
According to The Globe, Leontire told the court that Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early’s office indicated there was “no check of Mr. Hernandez’s cell” between 8 p.m. and 3:03 a.m. As a result, Jenkins-Hernandez could bring a civil action for “negligent supervision or negligence,” per The Globe.
According to The Globe, some of the evidence to be preserved includes, “Hernandez’s property in the cell and his writings; the sheets and ligature found in the cell; photographs of the cell; Hernandez’s medical and mental health records; recordings of calls Hernandez made during the month leading up to his death; and records of forensic tests and witness interviews concerning Hernandez’s death.”
An official autopsy performed Friday ruled Hernandez’s death as a suicide. Prison officials said Hernandez hanged himself from his prison-cell window using a bed sheet.
Thumbnail photo by Keith Bedford/The Boston Globe Images
