Odin Lloyd sent his sister a text message minutes before his death making sure she knew who had driven him away, a deadly premonition and a key piece of evidence for prosecutors.
Police say Lloyd was killed shortly after sending the text , which informed his sister that he was with then-New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.
“Did you see who I was with?” Odin Lloyd texted his sister at 3:07 a.m. June 17. Seeming urgent, he texted her back minutes later to see if she had received the message.
“Who?” she finally replied.
“NFL,” he texted back, then added: “Just so you know.”
Odin Lloyd likely sensed danger. Prosecutors say Aaron Hernandez had grown angry with Lloyd a few days earlier when the two friends went to a club in Boston.
“There were certain things that had happened during the night that he was upset about and now didn’t trust the victim,” said First Assistant District Attorney Bill McCauley. “He told him one of the things he was made about. … At the club the victim had spoken to a couple of people, and the defendant told him that he was upset about that because he had some troubles with those people.”
On the morning of Lloyd’s murder, prosecutors said Hernandez confronted him about it . Evidence shows that after picking up Lloyd, Hernandez drove to an industrial park where the man’s body was later found. Investigators say Lloyd was shot several times, with gunshot wounds indicating that he tried to run away and then shielded himself from being shot.
Hernandez was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in Lloyd’s death. Police did not say he pulled the trigger, but did accuse him of orchestrating the murder. On Thursday a second man, Carlos Ortiz , was also arrested.
The text from Odin Lloyd is now considered a key piece of evidence in the case against Aaron Hernandez, who faces life in prison if convicted.