The brother of the late Aaron Hernandez has pleaded guilty to threatening the lives of three people in addition to a school shooting at the University of Connecticut where he once played football.
Dennis Hernandez, 38, appeared in a federal courtroom in Hartford on Wednesday and admitted transmitting interstate communications containing a threat of harm, punishable by up to five years in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for February 6.
Federal prosecutors said Hernandez threatened a shooting at UConn's main campus in Storrs in July 2023 while messaging another person on Facebook.
“I would recommend staying away from there because if I leave I will tear everything down,” Hernandez wrote, according to court documents. “And don't worry about who gets caught in the crossfire.” I've been dying for years now and now it's other people's turn. I am ready to give my life. … I realize that not all shootings are bad. “Some are necessary for change to take place.”
His public defender did not immediately return an email seeking comment Wednesday. A woman who answered the phone number for his mother, Terri Hernandez, declined to comment.
Dennis Hernandez, the troubled brother of late New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, is standing by his public defender Sandra Crowell during his arraignment in 2023
Dennis “DJ” Hernandez was arrested after missing a court date for throwing bricks at ESPN's headquarters in Hernandez's hometown of Bristol, Connecticut
Aaron Hernandez appears at a bail hearing in a Fall River, Massachusetts court in 2023
Terri Hernandez told police around the time of his arrest in Bristol last year that he was suffering from deteriorating mental health problems, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Dennis Hernandez was shocked with a stun gun and taken into custody after he came out of his sister's house with his arms raised, screaming “shoot me” and threatening to harm officers, police said.
According to court documents, Hernandez was struggling financially, frustrated that other people were being hired as football coaches and feeling obligated by UConn. He played quarterback and wide receiver for the Huskies.
Police said Hernandez drove to the UConn campus and Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he once served as quarterbacks coach, to “plan the schools for a shooting.”
Also in July 2023, prosecutors said Hernandez threatened in multiple Facebook posts to hurt or kill three people living outside Connecticut, including a state court judge.
Hernandez has filed charges in Connecticut state court in connection with an incident outside ESPN headquarters in Bristol, his hometown. DJ was arrested in March 2023 for breach of peace after police said he threw a bag containing a brick and a note over a fence onto ESPN's property before leaving.
“To all media: It is time for you to be truly aware of the influence the media has on everyone in the family.” Since you are a global leader, perhaps you could lead the way media and messages move brick by brick be transmitted. Clean up! Sincerely, Dennis J. Hernandez,” the note said, according to police.
Dennis Hernandez played football at UConn before later coaching Brown's quarterbacks
Authorities said Hernandez was angry at people he believed were profiting from his younger brother's death. Aaron Hernandez took his own life in 2017 while serving a murder sentence.
A former standout at Bristol Central High and the University of Florida, Aaron was a star tight end for the New England Patriots before he was first charged with the murder of his friend Odin Lloyd in 2013.
Aaron had been acquitted of most charges in a separate double murder case just days before his death in 2017.
After his death, doctors discovered that Hernandez suffered from advanced chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease associated with head trauma.
The disease, which cannot be diagnosed until after death, has been diagnosed in more than 100 former NFL players and dozens more athletes and military personnel who were repeatedly exposed to head injuries. The disease can lead to memory loss, depression and suicide.
Aaron Hernandez also suffered from paranoia in addition to his well-documented drug problems.
