Aaron Hernandez's Brain to Be Studied by CTE Researchers at Boston University

The brain of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez will be donated to science and studied in CTE research.

Per Emily Riemer of WCVB 5, Hernandez's family is donating his brain, which will be studied at Boston University by researchers who are working on the degenerative brain condition.

According to Reimer, Hernandez's attorney Jose Baez "says the Boston Medical Examiner's office is holding his brain illegally" and hasn't relinquished it to researchers. 

Baez added he "doesn't have confidence" in the examiner's office to study Hernandez's brain, per Riemer. 

On Wednesday, per ESPN's Michele Steele, the Massachusetts Department of Corrections announced Hernandez was found dead in his prison cell after hanging himself with a bed sheet from his cell window. 

Hernandez was serving a life sentence without parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. He was found not guilty of a 2012 double murder last week.