FORMER PATRIOT AARON HERNANDEZ'S FIANCEE INDICTED ON PERJURY CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH ODIN MURDER

SHAYANNA JENKINS

The girlfriend of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez has been indicted on a perjury charge in connection with the killing of his friend.
A Massachusetts prosecutor said Friday that a grand jury indicted Shayanna Jenkins on a single count in relation to the investigation into the June 17 killing of the friend, Odin Lloyd. The prosecutor says Hernandez’s cousin, Tanya Singleton, also was indicted on a new charge of conspiracy to commit accessory after the fact.

Lloyd was found shot to death on June 17 in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass., near Hernandez’s home. Lloyd, a 27-year-old Boston semi-professional football player, was dating the sister of Hernandez’s girlfriend.

Earlier Friday, a grand jury also indicted a second Hernandez associate, Carlos Ortiz, on a accessory to murder charge in connection with the Lloyd killing. Until now, Ortiz had been facing only a gun charge in connection with the case. He pleaded not guilty to that charge.

Ortiz’s attorney, John Connors, said Friday that the indictment wasn’t unexpected. He said Ortiz will plead not guilty to the new charge and that he will make an argument for bail but had no further comment. A hearing on the gun charge that was scheduled for Friday will not go ahead.

CARLOS ORTIZ

Given the indictment, Ortiz’s case will now shift to superior court in Fall River. His arraignment there has not been scheduled.

Prosecutors say Ortiz and another associate, Ernest Wallace, were with Hernandez and Lloyd on the night Lloyd was killed. Wallace has also been indicted on a charge of accessory to murder after the fact. He has pleaded not guilty and been ordered held on $500,000 bail.

During Wallace’s bail hearing Thursday, prosecutors revealed that Ortiz, one of their key witnesses, has changed his story about the night of the killing. Assistant District Attorney Patrick Bomberg said Ortiz had told authorities at least a half-dozen times that both Hernandez and Wallace got out of a car, along with Lloyd, at the industrial park before Ortiz heard shots ring out.

But according to Bomberg, Ortiz now says he doesn’t believe Wallace got out of the car.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in Lloyd’s death and is being held without bail.