

YouTube Defensive Coach Mike Branch said Lloyd’s “talent was off the charts,” and that his goal was to “get him out of the hood and into college.” It sadly never happened. However, the red-blooded teen soon found himself distracted by girls. O’Bryant School of Mathematics and Science, Lloyd quickly became a reliable linebacker who contributed greatly to getting his team to the championships. Others saw the same potential in Lloyd as he did himself. Growing up in a dangerous area, Lloyd believed that American football was his golden ticket and one shot at success. After a few years in Antigua, however, the family moved to Dorchester, Massachusetts.

14, 1985, on the island of Saint Croix in the U.S. Odin Leonardo John Lloyd was born on Nov. For an athlete with dreams of making it to the NFL, having a friend like Hernandez couldn’t be anything but a positive. It wasn’t merely the fact that the two were athletes, or that they had interconnected lives as a result of their relationships - Lloyd’s girlfriend Shaneah Jenkins was the sister of Hernandez’s fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins. When he developed a friendship with Hernandez - then the star tight end for the NFL’s New England Patriots - after a chance meeting at a family function, there was little reason to think it would be setting the stage for tragedy.

Lloyd was an aspiring professional athlete himself, working as a linebacker for the Boston Bandits of the New England Football League (NEFL). Not surprising when the semi-professional football player’s killer was none other than NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez. Odin Lloyd was just 27 years old when he was shot dead in 2013, but unlike most other gun-related homicides in the U.S., his murder made international headlines. Aaron Hernandez immediately became the primary suspect, as Lloyd was last seen with him. Wikimedia Commons Odin Lloyd’s bullet-riddled corpse was found in an industrial park.
