Aaron Hernandez Hit With Wrongful Death Lawsuit From Odin Lloyd's Family
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A lawyer for Odin Lloyd's family plans to call Aaron Hernandez to the stand in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Read: The Complaint (.pdf)
Speaking alongside Lloyd's mother at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, attorney Doug Sheff promised the case would take a different tone than Hernandez's criminal trial, which ended April 15 with his conviction and sentencing to life in prison for Lloyd's 2013 murder.
Sheff said the former Patriots star tight end won't be able to avoid testifying by pleading the Fifth Amendment.
He says Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward, wants to know what happened and why.
He said the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, but maintained the family is not in it for the money because no amount can compensate for their loss.
Sheff said any money that's owed from the Patriots to Hernandez should go to Lloyd's family.
The New England Patriots and Kraft Enterprises are also named as "reach and apply defendants" in the suit.
That means Ward wants access to any money the Patriots and the Krafts may still owe Hernandez. The suit puts that amount at more than $3 million.
"I'm not confident he has money, but he sure has received a lot over his career and we're curious as to where it might be," Sheff told reporters.
"There are people who should be deposed. Did you handle his money? What did you do with it? Where was it transferred? We'd like to ask those questions. We haven't been able to do that yet."
Ward said her son never took life for granted and was her hero.
"I thought my life ended with his," she told reporters.
Hernandez is also named in a civil lawsuit filed by the families of Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado, two men Hernandez is also charged with murdering.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports:
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