Fall River, MA – Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and five accompanying weapons charges at his arraignment for an indictment handed down by a Fall River grand jury last month.
The arraignment comes after a grand jury returned an indictment against Hernandez in the death of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old semi-pro football player from the Boston area who was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend.
On Friday, both the defense and prosecution agreed that Hernandez will continue to be held without bail. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 9.
Prosecutors say Hernandez and two other men, Ernest Wallace and Carlos Ortiz, drove with Lloyd to a North Attleboro industrial park, where Lloyd was shot multiple times and left for dead. A jogger found Lloyd's body on June 17.
Hernandez was angry with Lloyd for what happened a few days earlier, when Lloyd talked to people Hernandez had problems with at a Boston nightclub.
Wallace has pleaded not guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact, while Ortiz has pleaded not guilty to illegally carrying a firearm. Both are being held in jail without bail.
According to court records filed in South Florida, Ortiz told authorities that Wallace called Hernandez the shooter.
Authorities currently don't have the murder weapon, which they believe was a .45-caliber Glock pistol.
Hernandez is also under investigation for allegedly participating in a 2012 double homicide in Boston.
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