Thursday, May 15, 2014

Aaron Hernández, Former NFL Player Indicted For 2012 Double Homicide

Aaron Hernández

Hernández was identified as the main shooter in the 2012 drive-by killing of two Boston men leaving a night club.

By H. Nelson Goodson
May 15, 2014

Boston, Massachusetts - On Thursday, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office charged Aaron Hernández, 24, with two felony counts for first-degree murder, three counts of armed assault with intent to murder and one count of battery and assault with a dangerous weapon for a double homicide in 2012. Hernández, a former NFL Patriot's player was tied to the July 16, 2012 drive-by fatal shooting of both Safiro Hurtado, 28, and Daniel de Abreu, 29.
During a press conference, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley also stated, that Hernández was also charged with unlawfully possessing the .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver he allegedly used in the murders. Tanya Cummings-Singleton, 38, of Bristol, Connecticut,  Hernández' cousin, was also charged with criminal contempt of court, according to Conley.
Conley stated, "At about 12:30 a.m. on July 16, 2012, the victims arrived at the Cure Lounge on Tremont Street in Boston's Theater District.  By coincidence, Aaron Hernández and another known individual entered the club at the same time.  Our investigation has not uncovered any evidence that these two groups were known to each other, but their chance encounter inside the club triggered a series of events that ended in the murders.
"After the victims left the club at about 2:00 a.m., they drove down Tremont Street.  Unbeknownst to them, Hernández followed behind, traveling in an SUV.  When the victims' car stopped at a red light on Shawmut Avenue waiting to turn onto Herald Street, the SUV pulled up beside the victims' car on the right.  Aaron Hernández fired a .38 caliber revolver multiple times from the driver's side of his vehicle into the passenger's side of the victims' vehicle.  Daniel de Abreu, the driver, suffered multiple wounds, including a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.  Safiro Furtado, in the front passenger seat, also suffered multiple wounds, including a fatal gunshot wound to the head.  Two backseat passengers escaped physical injury and fled on foot.  A third remained with his friends, suffering a gunshot wound to his arm.
"From last June forward, there were a number of significant developments in the investigation.  Those developments include the recovery of the car Hernández used in the murders and hid in a relative's garage in Bristol, Connecticut, and the recovery of the murder weapon from an individual with connections to Hernández.
"As to the indictment returned against Hernández' cousin, Tanya Singleton, she was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury investigating the July 2012 murders.  She was granted an order of immunity to provide to certain information regarding the SUV used in those murders without exposing herself to prosecution, but on Sept. 13, 2013, she refused to testify," Conley said.
Video surveillance from the Cure night club showed Hernández and another men enter the club and then leaving the place. They followed the victims who were in a BMW and then ambushed them as they waited at a traffic stop light.
Witnesses identified the SUV used and video footage placed Hernández near the crime scene. Hernández allegedly shot at the victims, while driving a 2006 Toyota 4Runner with Rhode Island plates.
Hernández was previously charged with the June 2013 homicide of Odin L. Lloyd, 23, from the Boston Bandits. Hernández and two other suspects lured Lloyd to an industrial park in North Atleborough and then Lloyd was killed for talking about Hernández. 
Lloyd's body was discovered on June 17, 2013.

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