Aaron Hernandez's Ex-Fiancee Sues Estates Of Murder Victims

Almost a year after former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez committed suicide in prison, there are still lingering legal concerns for his surviving family and their finances. Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez, the mother of the late tight end’s daughter, filed a lawsuit against the three men he was accused of killing to secure her child’s financial wellbeing, the Boston Herald reported.

It all revolves around Hernandez’s $1.3 million property in Massachusetts. Hernandez was accused of murdering Odin Lloyd, Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado; he was convicted in the case of Lloyd’s murder and acquitted in the other two cases not long before his suicide. The three murder victims’ families have ongoing wrongful death lawsuits which could potentially reward them with the money from the sale of Hernandez’s property.

Shayanna sued the estates of the three victims on behalf of her daughter, claiming the Homestead Protection Act should protect part of the property’s value in the event of a court judgment in the victims’ favor. Up to $500,000 of its value would be protected from creditors and ideally given to the daughter if the lawsuit is successful.

That half a million dollars will be set aside as escrow for the 5-year-old girl until a judge decides whether or not the Homestead Act applies to the situation. Hernandez did declare the property as homestead in 2013, according to Law & Crime. However, his death and the fact that Shayanna and her daughter now live in Rhode Island complicates things a bit. If a judge found that their moving out counted as abandoning the homestead, they may not be entitled to that $500,000.

However, the woman and her daughter supposedly moved out of the house to facilitate its sale, not abandon it, per the lawsuit. If that was indeed the case, the Homestead Act should still apply and safeguard that money for the daughter.

Back in November, it was discovered that Hernandez possibly set up a trust for his daughter before his death. Once thought to be one of the next great NFL tight ends, Hernandez was serving life in prison for the murder of Lloyd at the time of his suicide.