Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez died by suicide in his prison cell three years ago, and his fiancee paid tribute to him over the weekend. Shayanna Jenkins went to Instagram to post a photo of Hernandez with their then-newborn daughter from eight years ago. In the caption, Jenkins wrote how much she missed him on the anniversary of his death.
“The love between father and daughter knows no distance,” Jenkins wrote … “We think of you today. May you Rest in Peace and continue to watch over us!” In January, Jenkins was put in the spotlight due to the documentary Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez premiering on Netflix. When talking about the series, Jenkins was asked if she believed Hernandez was innocent of the crime of murdering Odin Lloyd in 2013.
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“I’d be a cold person to leave someone that had nobody at all,” Jenkins said on Good Morning America. She went on to talk about the recorded phone conversations with her, Hernandez and their daughter. She said: “It’s just very hard to hear, especially my daughter being a minor. Those are things as a mother you want to keep to yourself. Although they may not be played back, it’s hard to listen to.”
Jenkins is not the only one paying tribute to Hernandez. An unnamed player from the Florida Gators, recently opened up about his time with Hernandez when they were both teammates. The player told PEOPLE: “I think of Aaron almost every day at some point,” the former teammate told PEOPLE. “He crosses my mind all the time, and I talk about him with other guys from the team. We just can’t figure out what happened. We just can’t wrap our minds around his downfall.”
The player continued: “Everything about Aaron was a struggle,” the unnamed teammate continued. “He had these really angry outbursts a lot, over insignificant things. And when he started, he couldn’t stop.” The teammate also said that Hernandez struggled with his sexuality, openly dating several women and “finding guys on the down-low.”
Hernandez helped the Florida Gators win the national championship 2009 before joining the Patriots. New England drafted him in 2010, and he helped the team reach the Super Bowl in 2011. In his three seasons with the Patriots, Hernandez recorded 175 receptions, 1,956 yards and 18 touchdowns.
