Aaron Hernandez's murder conviction erased

A judge on Tuesday erased former NFL star Aaron Hernandez’s conviction in a 2013 murder because Hernandez died before his appeal was heard.

Hernandez, who had been a standout tight end for the New England Patriots before his arrest, hanged himself in his jail cell on April 19. He was serving a life sentence in the killing of semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd, and his suicide came just five days after he was acquitted in a different double slaying in 2012.

Hernandez's appellate attorneys made their request under a long-standing legal principle holding that when defendants die before their direct appeal is decided, their convictions are vacated. Prosecutors argued that dismissing Hernandez’s murder conviction would reward his decision to take his own life.

Judge Susan Garsh, who presided at Hernandez's trial in Lloyd's killing, heard the appeal on Tuesday.

Garsh said there was no reason to go against the legal principle in Massachusetts, known as "abatement an initio," where a conviction is overturned if a defendant dies while the case is under appeal. She said the court can not know why Hernandez ended his life, and, while there were many rumors as to why, including the prosecution's argument that it was to get an abatement, she could not infer that.

Fox News' Jennifer Oliva and The Associated Press contributed to this report.