Last week, former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was found guilty of the June 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd and sentenced to life in jail without parole.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the ex-NFL star still faces a separate double-murder trial for the drive-by shooting deaths of two Boston-area men in July 2012. Unbelievably, one of the victim's family—relatives of Safiro Furtado—say that they will continue to cheer for the Patriots, despite Hernandez former ties to the team.
Talking to TMZ Sports on Monday, Susan Vincente, Furtado's cousin, claimed "I'm still a Patriots fan" and that "[Hernandez] was just one person."
Patriots owner Robert Kraft took the stand and testified in Hernandez-Lloyd murder trial late last month.
"I understood there was an incident that had transpired, and I wanted to know whether he was involved, and if he was-any player that comes into our system, I consider part of our extended family, and I wanted to get him help," Kraft told the jury about pulling Hernandez into a Patriots' weightroom on June 19, 2013 to ask him about the Lloyd murder, as reported by ESPN. "He said he was not involved...that he was innocent and that he hoped that the time of the murder incident came out because he said he was in a club."
Of course, that's not how the jury saw it, slapping Hernandez with a guilty verdict. There's no telling if Kraft will testify in Hernandez's double-murder case. Reports over the weekend claimed that the Patriots knew of Hernandez's murky past and behavioral issues. Nevertheless, Vincente says that Furtado's family will continue to support the Pats, not holding Hernandez's crimes against the team, rather just the individual.
"He needs to be brought to justice," Vincente told the website. "My cousin never had an enemy. He was calm and loving. It's still an open wound [for Furtado's mother]. It's been tough for her since day one."
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