Odin Leonardo John Lloyd, a 27-year-old Black man, was a semi-professional football player whose life was cut short on June 17, 2013. An aspiring athlete, Lloyd played linebacker for the Boston Bandits, a team in the New England Football League. His life became intertwined with that of NFL star Aaron Hernandez through their romantic relationships with two sisters; Lloyd was dating Shaneah Jenkins, whose sister, Shayanna Jenkins, was Hernandez's fiancée.
Though friends, their relationship was more one of acquaintance, brought together by family obligation.
In the early morning hours of June 17, after a night out, Hernandez, along with two associates, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, picked up Lloyd from his home. A sense of unease seemingly prompted Lloyd to send a series of text messages to his sister, one of which read, "Did you see who I am with?" and then, "NFL," followed by "Just so you know." It was the last time his family would hear from him. Later that day, a jogger discovered Lloyd's body in an industrial park in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, less than a mile from Hernandez's mansion. He had been shot multiple times.
The investigation quickly centered on Aaron Hernandez. Evidence tying the New England Patriots tight end to the murder began to mount. Keys to a car rented by Hernandez were found in Lloyd's pocket. Surveillance footage from Hernandez's own home showed him, Wallace, and Ortiz arriving back at his house without Lloyd shortly after gunshots were heard in the industrial park. Further evidence, including a shell casing from the rental car that matched those at the scene and Hernandez's DNA on a piece of bubble gum found near a casing, solidified the case against him. While a definitive motive was never established, prosecutors believe Hernandez felt his trust had been betrayed by something Lloyd said or did at a nightclub a few nights prior.
On June 26, 2013, Aaron Hernandez was arrested and charged with first-degree murder; the Patriots released him from his $40 million contract just hours later. Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz were also arrested and faced charges in connection with the killing. In April 2015, Hernandez was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Wallace was later convicted of being an accessory after the fact, while Ortiz pleaded guilty to the same charge. The story took a final, dramatic turn when Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell in April 2017, just days after being acquitted of a separate double murder. Following his death, his conviction for Lloyd's murder was initially vacated based on a legal principle, but it was later reinstated by Massachusetts' highest court in 2019.
