Aaron Hernandez Will 'Always Be Guilty,' Says Odin Lloyd's Mother
BOSTON (CBS) -- In an emotional statement, the mother of the man Aaron Hernandez was once convicted of killing said her faith was the reason she was not angered by Fall River Superior Court Judge Susan Garsh's decision to vacate that conviction Tuesday.
"I know everyone is looking for me to be angry, but I'm not," Ursula Ward, the mother of Odin Lloyd, told reporters through tears shortly after the decision came down. "Because God said the battle is not yours, it's mine. So I know God is fighting this battle for me."
Hernandez was convicted of killing Lloyd in 2013. Judge Garsh ruled Tuesday that that conviction had to be overturned, because Hernandez killed himself in his prison cell before his appeals could be heard.
Garsh stood with the policy of abatement, a long-standing legal principle followed by several states including Massachusetts that defendant's convictions should be vacated in the event they die before the appeals process is complete.
Ward said she would always see Hernandez as guilty despite the technicality, but that she wasn't angry because "God didn't raise me like that."
"In our book, he's guilty, and he's gonna always be guilty," Ward said of Hernandez. "But I know one day, I'm gonna see my son, and that's a victory that I have that I am going to take with me ... No one won today, but I won, because I have God on my side."
Similarly, when Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her son in 2013, Ward gave a victim impact statement saying she had already forgiven him.
Despite Hernandez's death, Ward is continuing with a wrongful death lawsuit against the ex-NFL star's estate in civil court. The Ward family is using this suit to go after Hernandez assets including his home, his vehicle, and even money from his Patriots contract.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kendall Buhl reports
