The semipro football player for the Boston Bandits was 27.
Days after he was found dead, then-NFL star Aaron Hernandez was arrested and charged with murder. Testimony in the case against Hernandez began this week. Hernandez also faces murder charges in a 2012 double homicide. He has pleaded not guilty.
The charges mark the latest turn in Hernandez’s downward spiral. Just two years ago, he was one of the NFL’s most promising tight ends, inking a $40-million contract extension with the New England Patriots.
Friends and fans alike wonder: How could the star player who had more than 900 receiving yards in 2011 now be on trial for murder?
From ‘golden boy’ to behind bars
Long before Hernandez made national headlines, he was a standout athlete in Bristol, Connecticut, who came from a family described as a local sports dynasty.
“I don’t think there was another family that was more familiar in Bristol,” Bob Montgomery, who covers high school sports for the Bristol Press, told CNN.
The young Hernandez was the “golden boy,” playing football, basketball and running track, following in the footsteps of his uncle, older brother and father — all well-known athletes in the community.
Hernandez’s father constantly pushed his son, requiring him to practice for hours before he could go out with friends.
“I saw a closeness with them that I’d never seen before,” Montgomery said of the relationship between Hernandez and his father.
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Abreu, the driver, was shot several times and fatally hit in the chest. Furtado was sitting in the front passenger seat and suffered multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head, Haggan said.
Hernandez was charged in the double homicide in May, and he pleaded not guilty.
Investigators found evidence they believe links him to the 2012 slayings while investigating the death of Lloyd.
As for the Lloyd case, Hernandez’s lawyers contend the circumstantial evidence has gaps.
“There’s certainly a lot of what I would call smoke. There’s no doubt about it,” defense lawyer Jamie Sultan said during a June 16 hearing. “But that’s not probable cause that he committed murder. And you can’t just throw a bunch of stuff against the wall and say that’s good enough.”
Now, a jury will decide. There is a gag order prohibiting the defense and prosecution from commenting on the case.
Hernandez’s lawyers and mother declined to be interviewed, but both predict he will be cleared. It’s a possibility that haunts Lloyd’s loved ones.
“That’s my biggest fear,” Michael Branch, Lloyd’s former coach and mentor, said. “All it takes is one juror.”
CNN’s Laura Dolan, Kristi Ramsay and Michelle Rozsa contributed to this report.
