GIRLFRIEND OF EX -PATRIOT HERNANDEZ IS INDICTED
FILE - In this July 24, 2013, file
photo, Shayanna Jenkins, fiancee of
former New England Patriots NFL
football player Aaron Hernandez,
arrives at hearing for Hernandez at
Attleboro District Courtroom in
Attleboro, Mass. A Massachusetts
prosecutor said Friday, Sept. 27, 2013,
that a grand jury indicted Jenkins on a
single count of perjury in relation to
the investigation into the June 17
killing of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd had been
dating Jenkins' sister. Hernandez has
pleaded not guilty to first-degree
murder in Lloyd's death and is being
held without bail. (AP Photo/
Bizuayehu Tesfaye, File)
FALL RIVER, Mass. (AP) — The
girlfriend of former New England
Patriot Aaron Hernandez has been
indicted on a perjury charge in
connection with the killing of his friend,
a Massachusetts prosecutor said Friday,
bringing to five the number of people
facing charges in the case.
A grand jury indicted Shayanna Jenkins,
24, on a single count in relation to the
investigation into the June 17 killing of
Odin Lloyd, Bristol County District
Attorney Samuel Sutter said.
It wasn't clear what led to the charge.
Sutter's spokesman, Gregg Miliote, said
he could not comment until her
arraignment, which has not been set. A
message left for Jenkins' lawyer was not
immediately returned.
Lloyd, a 27-year-old semiprofessional
football player from Boston, was found
shot to death in an industrial park in
North Attleborough, Mass., near
Hernandez's home, where Jenkins also
lives. Lloyd had been dating Jenkins'
sister.
Jenkins was not arrested and will be
ordered to appear in court for an
arraignment, the prosecutor's office
said. She and Hernandez have a young
child together.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to
first-degree murder and weapons
charges in Lloyd's death and is being
held without bail. His attorneys have
said the state won't be able to prove its
case during a jury trial and that
Hernandez will be exonerated.
Prosecutors say Hernandez killed Lloyd
because he was upset with him for
talking to some people at a nightclub
with whom he had had problems.
Prosecutors said as recently as Thursday
that the investigation was ongoing, the
grand jury was continuing to hear
evidence and that more charges could
be coming.
In addition to Hernandez and his
girlfriend, three others face charges in
the case. Hernandez associate Ernest
Wallace has pleaded not guilty to being
an accessory to murder after the fact.
Another associate of Hernandez, Carlos
Ortiz, also was indicted on the same
charge, Sutter said Friday.
Ortiz's attorney, John Connors, said
Friday that the indictment wasn't
unexpected. He said Ortiz will plead not
guilty to the new charge and that he
will make an argument for bail but had
no further comment. A hearing on the
gun charge that was scheduled for
Friday was canceled.
Given the indictment, Ortiz's case now
shifts to superior court in Fall River. His
arraignment there has not been
scheduled.
Hernandez's cousin, Tanya Singleton,
also was indicted on a new charge of
conspiracy to commit accessory after the
fact, Sutter said. Prosecutors say that in
the days after the killing, she drove
with Wallace from her home in Bristol,
Conn., where Wallace had lived at
times, to Georgia, where her car broke
down, and that she then bought him a
bus ticket to Florida, where his family
lives.
Singleton had been indicted earlier on a
charge of criminal contempt after
allegedly refusing to testify before the
grand jury hearing evidence in the case.
Prosecutors say they offered her
immunity.
A message seeking comment was left for
her attorney.
