Family, several NFL friends gather for Aaron Hernandez funeral

Friends, family and other invited guests gathered on Monday afternoon for the funeral of Aaron Hernandez, the onetime rising NFL star and convicted murderer who was found dead in his Massachusetts prison cell last week.

Hernandez hanged himself in the early-morning hours of April 19, just days after he was acquitted in a second murder trial.

The service was held at O’Brien Funeral Home in Bristol, Conn., where he was born and raised.

The funeral service ws by invitation only, though television trucks and reporters camped out near the O’Brien building.

Hernandez’s burial will also be private; no date or time has been made public.

Those attending included Hernandez’s mother, Terri, his fiancee Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez, and their daughter Avielle, according to Boston Herald reporter Laurel J. Sweet.  Also spotted were Brandon Spikes, Hernandez’s teammate at the University of Florida and with the Patriots, as well as twins Mike (of the Dolphins) and Maurkice (of the Steelers) Pouncey. The Pounceys also were teammates of Hernandez at Florida.

Afterwards, Hernandez’s family released a statement thanking those who have offered support:

“The family of Aaron Hernandez wishes to thank all of you for the thoughtful expressions of condolences. We wish to say goodbye to Aaron in a private ceremony and thank everyone in advance for affording us a measure of privacy during this difficult time,” the statement said.

The 27-year-old Hernandez was a fourth-round draft pick of the New England Patriots in 2010 and played three seasons for the team. Last April, he was convicted in the 2013 murder of his acquaintance Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player and Boston resident who was shot in an industrial park not far from Hernandez’s home in North Attleborough, Mass.

Hernandez was also charged with killing two other men, Cape Verdean immigrants Safiro Furtado and Daniel de Abreu, in a 2012 drive-by shooting, but a jury declared him not guilty five days before his death.

Looking back on the life of Aaron Hernandez

NFL Network's Judy Battista takes a look back at the life of former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez.