The late Aaron Hernandez’s outlook completely changed after becoming a father to his 13-year-old daughter, Abiel Janelle Hernandez.
Shortly after Avielle was born on November 6, 2012, the former New England Patriots player told the media, “One thing I know is this definitely changed my life.”
However, seven months after Aviel’s birth, Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder for the death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd and was promptly fired by the Patriots. By April 2015, the young father was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Two years later, when Aviel was only 4 years old, Hernandez committed suicide in his cell just days after being acquitted of additional murder charges.
“Aaron had his demons, we all know that, but he was really devoted to his daughter. Well, I guess he loved her,” said a former teammate of Hernandez’s at the University of Florida.
Aviel is currently being raised by his mother, Shayanna Jenkins Hernandez.
Here’s everything you need to know about the late NFL player’s only child, Abiel Janelle Hernandez.
She has the same birthday as Hernandez
Hernandez and her fiancé, Jenkins Hernandez, gave birth to their only child on November 6, 2012, which also happened to be Hernandez’s 23rd birthday. The former Patriots tight end called Aviel’s addition “the best birthday present,” according to NBC Sports.
“It’s crazy…to have a daughter on your birthday, especially a daddy’s little girl,” Hernandez told reporters. “I’m honored. I couldn’t have asked for my life to be better at this point. My life is pretty good. I thank God for that. It’s a blessing. I still feel blessed every day.”
Hernandez also talked about how becoming a father is “life-changing” and for the better.
“I’m going to look at things from a different perspective,” Hernandez said. “I may be young and wild, but I’m not. I’m engaged now. Having a baby makes me think about life much differently and do things the right way, because now other people look up to me. I can’t be young and reckless Aaron anymore.”
In November 2023, Jenkins-Hernandez celebrated Aviel’s 11th birthday with a sweet Instagram post.
“You have been such an inspiration to watch grow up. Your dedication and hard work is something I will always admire. First in, last out (just like your dad),” she wrote. “Please continue to be a great little girl and never lose that smile! I’m sure your daddy will be proud.”
She was 7 months old when Hernandez was arrested in 2013.
On June 26, 2013, when Abiel was 7 months old, Hernandez was arrested on first-degree murder charges for allegedly shooting Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was dating Hernandez’s fiancée’s sister at the time.
Prosecutors alleged that Hernandez and two others loaded Lloyd into his rental Nissan Altima shortly after 2:30 a.m. on June 17, 2013, and drove them to a remote industrial park in North Attleboro, where they shot her six times. It remains unclear who pulled the trigger, but prosecutors said Hernandez orchestrated the killing.
The trial began about a year and a half later, on January 29, 2015. Hernandez was ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder on April 15, 2015, and sentenced to life in prison.
She attended Hernandez’s double murder trial when she was 4 years old
Hernandez’s second trial began in March 2017 while he was in prison for Lloyd’s murder. This time, the case concerned Hernandez’s alleged murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in a 2012 drive-by shooting outside a Boston nightclub.
While the jury was deliberating in April 2017, Hernandez’s fiancée, Jenkins Hernandez, attended the trial for the first time with Abiel in tow. The Washington Post reported at the time that Hernandez repeatedly kissed and waved at his 4-year-old daughter in court. This was the last time Aviel saw his father alive.
On April 19, 2017, Hernandez committed suicide five days after being acquitted of double murder charges.
Hernandez left three suicide notes, including a letter to Aviel. “Daddy will never leave you! I enter a timeless realm where I can be in any shape at any time, because I see everything at once that may or may not happen! Life is eternal, believe me!!!,” he wrote. “Love, repent, and find Me/Yourself in everyone, for that is the truth! See you all in Heaven. We are waiting for you with the same love.”
“Never fear me, but love me all of you! Fear is the only separation between you and me! We are each other, I/you, you/I, there is no need to fear, but what you do to others will come back!”
she is a big sister
On June 16, 2018, Avielle became a big sister when Jenkins gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Gisele. Jenkins Hernandez announced her pregnancy on Instagram in May 2018, 13 months after her fiancé Hernandez died in prison. A source close to the family confirms to PEOPLE that Hernandez did not freeze his sperm and was not the father of Jenkins-Hernandez’s second child.
Despite the five-year age difference, Avielle is like a doting older sister to Gisele. Jenkins-Hernandez frequently shares images of the duo on her Instagram account, writing in July 2020, “Don’t worry they are taking care of each other!!!! #thebestoffriends❤️ #sisterlove💕.”
she is a dancer
Aviel has been dancing competitively since she was at least 6 years old, when Jenkins-Hernandez first shared an image of her older child wearing a competitive dance team jacket. Around the same time, in 2019, when Avielle entered first grade, Jenkins-Hernandez revealed on social media that Avielle wanted to be a professional dancer when she grew up.
Over the years, Jenkins-Hernandez has shared some of Avielle’s dance accomplishments on her Instagram account, including playing the role of a mouse in the Nutcracker ballet, winning a five-year award in 2020, and performing solo. “Little does she know how proud her father is!!! Baby, you’re a star 💫,” Jenkins-Hernandez wrote on Instagram in March 2021, along with three photos of Avielle performing on stage.
But in September 2022, concerns arose about how Hernandez’s fiance was using money from the deceased NFL player’s trust fund to pay for Aviel’s dance lessons. That same month, Jenkins-Hernandez requested $10,000 from the trust for Avielle’s competitive dance lessons. The request was denied by attorney David Schwartz, who said the funds issued to Jenkins-Hernandez each year to cover Ms. Abiel’s daily living expenses are approximately $150,000.
“There is good reason to question whether and how the conservator is funding Abiel’s daily necessities, including dance lessons, especially since all of her basic housing security and education expenses are paid from the trust,” the court documents obtained by PEOPLE read.
Jenkins-Hernandez maintains that she acted in her daughter’s best interests with respect to funds distributed to her from Hernandez’s trust.
“After Aaron’s death, my sole focus was on raising my children and providing them with as much stability as possible,” the mother of two claimed in an email to the Boston Globe. “Every dollar I spend has been with this singular focus in mind, and this will continue to be my focus.”
She has the same “energy and personality” as her father
When Aviel was born, Hernandez immediately talked about the similarities between himself and his only child. Two days after her birth in 2012, he told the media: “She’s such a sweet girl.” “I can’t wait to go back and see myself.”
Even as Avielle grows up, he begins to resemble his late father. Jenkins-Hernandez often comments on the similarities between the two. In February 2019, she posted a photo of Aviel and little Hernandez side by side on Instagram, calling her daughters “daddy’s twins.”
Jenkins-Hernandez also talked about how the two share similar personality traits. In November 2017, and in April 2019, two years after Hernandez’s death, Hernandez’s fiancée posted on Instagram, “Avielle, your energy and personality is completely yours!” and added, “We both act so much alike, it’s insane.”
She echoed similar sentiments two years later in April 2021, writing about how Aviel maintains Hernandez’s “presence.”
In 2024, her father’s case became a hot topic again.
During the May 2024 Netflix special “The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady,” both Brady and comedian Nikki Glazer mentioned Hernandez, with Glazer joking about Hernandez wearing a ring “around his neck.”
After the special, Jenkins-Hernandez told TMZ that she wasn’t happy with the reference, especially since Avielle is old enough to understand what was said.
“It’s sad that we’re trying to raise our children in such a cruel world,” she said.
In September, a television show based on Hernandez’s life, American Sports Story, premiered on FX. Josh Andres Rivera plays the late NFL player in the anthology series, which explores Hernandez’s personal life, career, convictions and eventual death.
