Aaron Hernandez Dies at 27 After Suicide in Prison

Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez died at the age of 27 Wednesday morning after killing himself in his prison cell.

The Massachusetts Department of Corrections released a statement on Hernandez's death, per ESPN's Michele Steele:

A Massachusetts prisons spokesman later told the Associated Press (h/t the Boston Globe) he was not aware of any suicide note Hernandez left at the scene.

Hernandez was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player and landscaper.

Hernandez's death came five days after he was found not guilty of the 2012 murders of Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu outside a Boston nightclub.

According to Aimee Ortiz and John R. Ellement of the Boston Globe, Massachusetts DOC spokesman Christopher Fallon revealed Hernandez was not on suicide watch.

The Bristol, Connecticut, native played three seasons with the Patriots after getting selected in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL draft out of Florida.