Despite Some Legal Issues, Aaron Hernandez's Former Fiancée Is Living Her Best Life

The life of Aaron Hernandez has been shared via podcasts, documentaries, fictionalized series, and his own words. The former NFL player was found guilty of first-degree murder in April 2015 and sentenced to life in prison. Almost two years later to the day, Hernandez took his own life while in prison. Authorities later found three notes tucked inside a bible in his cell. One was addressed to his fiancée and their daughter.

They first started dating in high school and in the letter, Hernandez told Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez that she was his soulmate. He also asked Jenkins-Hernandez to tell their daughter Avielle that he loved her. Since that time, Avielle has become a big sister to Giselle, who was born on June 16, 2018. (Hernandez is not her father.) What is the late football player's fiancée up to now? Here's what we know.

According to Jenkins-Hernandez's Instagram bio, she is a licensed insurance broker and started her own event planning company. It's unclear when Mommy and Me, LLC officially began, but the first event was held in May 2024. Based on the company's Instagram posts, it was some sort of party for Jenkins-Hernandez's daughters.

Jenkins-Hernandez's personal Instagram is filled with photos of her along with Avielle and Giselle truly living their best lives. Whether they are celebrating Halloween together or spending the day at an amusement park, it's clear that Jenkins-Hernandez is not taking life for granted.

Around the anniversary of Hernandez's death, Jenkins-Hernandez usually posts a tribute to him. In April 2021, she shared a photo of Hernandez holding a pair of red baby shoes that belonged to Avielle. "Since you’ve been gone, the loss hasn’t gotten any easier. I still hurt," she wrote in the caption. She admitted to still crying from time to time but keeping Hernandez's memory alive by talking about him with their daughter.

Jenkins-Hernandez has been accused of using money from her daughter's trust to pay for personal expenses, reports The Boston Globe. In September 2022, Jenkins-Hernandez asked a court-appointed trustee if she could use money from Avielle's trust to pay for her daughter's ballet lessons. The bill was a whopping $10,697.

After attorney David Schwartz denied this request, he decided to look into Jenkins-Hernandez's spending habits. Schwartz knew that she received $150,000 a year from Hernandez's NFL pension as well as Social Security, so he looked at where that was going. He found that she dropped "$36,858 on clothing, including maternity wear; $39,347 on home goods; $25,577 shopping online; $11,792 in 'self-care,' including gym fees, and visits to hair and nail salons." None of this was going towards Avielle's care.

Jenkins-Hernandez promptly asked a Bristol County probate judge to remove him as trustee, stating he was forcing Avielle to give up a hobby she loved dearly. She denied the accusations that Hernandez's money was not being used for Avielle. In response to this, Schwartz hired attorney Robert O’Regan who said they believed Avielle should get everything she wants in needs, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.