Aaron Hernandez's former fiancé Shayanna Jenkins was cleared of perjury charges this morning in Fall River, Mass., legally closing a hellish chapter in her life. "I'm happy to start my future with my daughter and move forward," she told reporters after emerging from the courthouse. Prosecutors say Jenkins lied 29 times while testifying to a grand jury in 2013 about Hernandez's involvement in murder of Odin Lloyd.
Jenkins says she is looking forward to starting future with her daughter pic.twitter.com/UzW7pxvDsN
— Jenny Wilson (@jennydwilson) May 15, 2015In exchange for testifying at Hernandez's trial, and providing testimony so incredibly unbelievable that she ended up helping the prosecution, all perjury charges against her were dropped. While outside of the courthouse, Jenkins was asked whether or not she's still with Hernandez, who's currently serving life without parole for murdering Lloyd.
When asked if she and #AaronHernandez are still together, Jenkins laughs and says "ehh"
— Jenny Wilson (@jennydwilson) May 15, 2015Still wearing her diamond engagement ring to Hernandez, Jenkins twisted and played with the ring while responding.
See how #AaronHernandez's fiancée, Shayanna Jenkins, answers the question, "Are you & Aaron still together?" @wpri12 pic.twitter.com/AD1WiGDvL9
— Susan Campbell (@S_E_Campbell) May 15, 2015A nervous "of course I'm not with him" laugh and subsequent shrug isn't the straightforward "NO" answer you might expect. There's purposeful ambiguity from Jenkins here, since she's clearly still attached to Hernandez, and by virtue of the daughter she has with him, always will be. Don't forget how devastated she was when the guilty verdict was read:
Jenkins can now move forward without the justice system's noose following her around, but the emotional challenges ahead for her are undoubtedly more complicated than the yes/no questions and answers she's been bombarded with for the past two years. It's easy to drop perjury charges pertaining to a man who's in jail for the rest of his life. Yet for Jenkins, dropping the father of her daughter isn't as simple, even if he is an alleged serial killer psychopath. Hernandez is physically gone from her life, but what he's left behind is permanent.
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[via Larry Brown Sports]
