How Did Shayanna Jenkins And Aaron Hernandez Meet And Did They Get Married?

If there’s one thing that “Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez” brings to light other than the life, death, and killings of convicted murderer and former National Football League (NFL) star Aaron Hernandez, it’s the story of his soulmate and childhood sweetheart, Shayanna Jenkins. Amid the unbelievable twists and turns in his sensational trials is Shayanna—the love of his life and the mother of his child who continues to stand up for him, no matter the odds.

Aaron and Shayanna’s story was enduring love and tragedy rolled into one. Despite Aaron’s clandestine gay lifestyle, he considered Shayanna as his soulmate and his love for her was genuine. They met each other long before Aaron started coming to terms with his legal troubles, having grown up in the same neighborhood and spent their childhood together. Fast forward to 2012, they celebrated their pregnancy and engagement – all until things started to crumble from there.

A year after their engagement, Aaron got linked to the fatal shooting of Odin Loyd, the boyfriend of Shayanna’s sister Shaneah. When he was charged with murder, Shayanna continued to support her fiancé even at the expense of her own relationship with her sister. Both Shayanna and Shaneah became estranged following Hernandez’s arrest, and they only looked directly at each other once throughout the 2015 trial that turned things upside down for the longtime lovers.

Aaron was charged of Loyd’s murder, and just like that, everything between him and Shayanna wracked up in a whirlwind of violence and lightning bolts. With Aaron in total mess and nothing left to his name, Shayanna was left burdened with holding both Aaron and their child Avielle up together by herself. At the core of the situation, Shayanna became a single mother under fire for standing by a convicted murderer, but she continued to support Aaron anyway by being in the courtroom every single time.

In 2017, Aaron died and Shayanna was left lying in tatters—an unmarried single mom whose dreams of settling down with the love of her life and their child conked out in the blink of an eye. Aaron’s fate may have yanked their family apart and kept them from truly being a family, but Shayanna proved her undying love for him when she still chose to take his name after his death. Today, Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez continues to be an embodiment of strength and endurance, of a woman who continues to flourish even after she thought her life was over.