Aaron Hernandez’s Final Words Revealed In Suicide Letters He Wrote To His Fiancee, Daughter, And Lawyer

Before his tragic death in prison last year, Aaron Hernandez wrote three suicide letters addressed to his fiancee, daughter, and his lawyer, as a recently published book revealed.

Jose Baez, the attorney of the former NFL star, shared excerpt of the letters in his book, Unnecessary Roughness: Inside the Trial and Final Days of Aaron Hernandez, released this week. Baez met Hernandez in 2016 when the star athlete, who was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, had just been indicted in connection with an earlier double-homicide. Baez grew close to Hernandez as he helped him win an acquittal on April 14, 2017. The 27-year-old hanged himself in his cell just days later, on April 19.

In copies obtained by the New York Post, Baez shared contents of the letters Hernandez wrote to his daughter, Avielle Jenkins-Hernandez, now 5, fiancee Shayanna Jenkins, now 29, and Baez himself. Baez said Hernandez wrote the letters, which were found in his cell, the same night he died. Correction officers later released the letters to Baez, according to The Post.

Baez said that the letter addressed to him included no clues that Hernandez intended to kill himself. Hernandez talked about contacting hip-hop artists and grabbing a coffee with Baez in the future. The tone of the letter is upbeat and includes a number of exclamation marks.

“I want you to know you have me forever like you never understood and time will reveal that I’m not perfect but my love and loyalty is like you’ve never seen!” Hernandez wrote.

But the letters to his daughter and fiancee are a lot more grim, he said.

In the letter address to his daughter, Hernadez spoke about being with her from the other side.

“Daddy will never leave you! I’m entering to the timeless realm in which I can enter into any form at any time because everything that could happen or not happened I see all at once! Life is eternal — believe!!!”

He tells his daughter, whom he called Avi, that they are one and the same, and writes “me/yourself,” “I/you” and “you/me” throughout the letter when referring to her.

“Love, repent, and see me/yourself in everyone because that’s what the truth is!” he wrote.

To his fiancee, he wrote the following.

“You have always been my soul-mate and I want you to love life and know I’m always with you. I told you what was coming indirectly! I love you so much and know [you] are an angel.”

On the bottom of the last page of the letter addressed to Shay, as Shayanna Jenkins was commonly referred to, there is a drawing that resembles a thin rope dangling from a noose.

Baez said he doesn’t believe Hernandez was in sound mind when he wrote the letters to his fiancee and daughter and brought up Hernandez’s brain injuries, according to The Post. A brain scan revealed that the former tight-end suffered severe brain injuries consistent with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as a consequence of repeated head blows playing football.

“He had a serious brain disease,” Baez wrote. “We need more awareness of it, or we’re going to see more suicides.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.