It is one of those questions that pops up every time a new Netflix documentary or FX series drops about the fall of the New England Patriots star. People see the name Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez and they just assume. They see the giant diamond ring she wore during those grueling days in the Fall River Superior Court and they figure a wedding must have happened somewhere along the way.
But honestly? No. Aaron Hernandez was never legally married.
Despite the hyphenated last name she uses today, and despite the fact that they were together for most of their lives, the law never recognized them as husband and wife. It sounds like a small detail, a bit of trivia, but in the middle of a first-degree murder trial, that distinction was actually everything. It was the difference between a partner being forced to talk and a spouse having the right to stay silent.
The Engagement That Never Crossed the Finish Line
Aaron and Shayanna were high school sweethearts from Bristol, Connecticut. Their story is classic: the star athlete and the girl who stayed by his side while he rose to fame at the University of Florida and eventually the NFL. By 2012, things looked like a fairy tale on the surface. Hernandez had just signed a massive $40 million contract extension with the Patriots. That same year, the couple welcomed their daughter, Avielle Janelle Hernandez.
In November 2012, Hernandez proposed.
They had plans. There were reports they were eyeing a 2014 wedding date in California. But then, June 2013 happened. The body of Odin Lloyd was found in an industrial park near Hernandez’s North Attleboro mansion, and the life they were building—the wedding, the career, the suburban dream—basically evaporated overnight.
Why the "Marriage" Question Mattered in Court
You’ve probably heard of spousal privilege. It is that legal shield that says a husband or wife cannot be forced to testify against their spouse about private conversations.
When Hernandez was sitting in jail awaiting trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd, the prosecution was circling Shayanna. They knew she had handled a certain "box" from the basement. They knew she had driven around with it in her car. They wanted to know what Aaron told her.
If they had been married, Shayanna might have been able to invoke that privilege and keep her mouth shut. Because they were "only" engaged, the law didn't care about their commitment or their child. Massachusetts law is pretty firm on this: no marriage certificate, no privilege.
The Jailhouse Wedding That Wasn't
Interestingly, there were whispers that Hernandez tried to fix this while he was behind bars. There were rumors he wanted to marry Shayanna in jail specifically to trigger that spousal privilege.
But Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson wasn't having it. He famously told the media that he would do everything in his power to stop a wedding from happening, famously stating that marriage is a right for "good citizens" on the outside, not for people facing murder charges in his facility.
He didn't want the jailhouse to be used as a tool for "courtroom strategy." Whether it was legal for him to block a marriage is a whole different debate, but the end result was the same: no ceremony ever took place.
The Last Name Mystery
So, why does she go by Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez now?
It's a personal choice. After Aaron’s death in 2017, Shayanna began using the hyphenated name more publicly. Legally, anyone can change their name if they want to, and for her, it seemed to be a way of honoring the man she called her soulmate, regardless of what a piece of paper said.
She has been incredibly open about this. Even after the revelations about Aaron’s private life and the theories about his sexuality that came out in the Killer Inside documentary, she’s stayed loyal. To her, they were as good as married.
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- The Daughter: Avielle remains the center of Shayanna's world.
- The Trust: There have been long legal battles over the NFL pension and the money left for their daughter.
- The Legacy: Shayanna still posts tributes to Aaron on social media, often referring to him as the love of her life.
The Harsh Reality of the "Common Law" Myth
A lot of people think that if you live together long enough, you’re "common law married." That is a total myth in most of the U.S., including Massachusetts and Connecticut. You can live together for fifty years, have ten kids, and share every bank account—if you don't have a license from the city hall, you aren't married.
For Shayanna, this meant she had no legal standing when it came to his estate in the way a widow would. It meant she had to fight different legal battles just to secure their daughter's future.
It’s a complicated, messy ending to a story that started in a high school hallway in Bristol. While the public might always link them as a "married" couple, the reality is that the wedding they planned for 2014 is one of the many things that never happened once the sirens started.
Practical Takeaway:
If you’re looking into the legalities of the Hernandez case, the most important thing to remember is that marital status dictates everything from inheritance to testimony rights. If you are in a long-term partnership and want those protections, don't rely on "common law" status; check your state's specific requirements, as most (like MA and CT) require a formal legal ceremony.