Former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez looked on impassively Wednesday as he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, a new low for a young man who once enjoyed a $40 million pro-football contract and now stands convicted in the 2013 murder of onetime friend Odin Lloyd.
Hernandez, 25, appeared to shake his head "no" earlier as jurors in the Massachusetts trial found him guilty of first-degree murder. He was also found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
"They got it wrong," Hernandez said as he was being transported from the courthouse to a state prison, according to a law enforcement source close to the case. "I didn't do it."
At trial, the defense team described Lloyd, a former semi-pro football player, as Hernandez's "bluntmaster" -- his purveyor of marijuana -- and his future brother-in-law. But in victim impact statements, Lloyd's relatives portrayed him as a loving son and protective brother, as a man who rode his bike 10 miles to work and wore the same flip-flops for 12 years.
"Odin was my only son," his mother, Ursula Ward, told the court, without looking at Hernandez. "Odin was the man of the house. Odin was his sisters' keeper. After my daughter Olivia had her daughter, Odin became her keeper, too."
"I thank God every second for every day I spent with my son. The day I laid my son Odin to rest, I think my heart stopped beating for a moment. I felt like I wanted to go in that hole with my son Odin."
Lloyd was "the backbone of the family," Ward said. She expressed regret she'd never see him have a child and that she'd never dance at his wedding.
But she found forgiveness in her heart: "I forgive the hands of the people that had a hand in my son's murder, either before or after. And I pray and hope that someday, everyone up there will forgive them also."
Outside court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn said of her ability to forgive: "I think it's a tremendous compliment to her."
"As difficult as it is for people in the end, forgiveness is what it's about, if people can bring themselves to that point, he said.
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