DJ Hernandez, the problematic brother of Aaron Hernandez

DJ Hernandez once tried to understand how his younger brother Aaron could end up on such a dark path – and then he found himself in trouble.

Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe/Getty ImagesDJ Hernandez spent much of his adult life trying to understand what happened to his brother Aaron.

First, Aaron Hernandez captivated America with his amazing performances on the football field. Then came the accusation that he murdered his friend Odin Lloyd. And finally, there was Hernandez’s suicide in prison. The same question kept coming: What happened? Few could give a clear answer. But Hernandez’s older brother, DJ Hernandez, did his best after Aaron’s death in 2017.

In his book The Truth About Aaron: My Way to Understand My BrotherDJ – who also goes by Jonathan – revealed many dark truths about their upbringing. He also explored Aaron’s deteriorating mental state in his final years and a big secret Aaron kept until his incarceration.

However, neither brother seemed to overcome the trauma of their childhood. Years after his brother’s conviction and suicide, DJ Hernandez also found himself in serious trouble with the law. And recently he was arrested for threatening to kill his estranged wife and planning school shootings.

A difficult childhood in Connecticut

Hernandez familyYoung Aaron Hernandez (right) with his brother DJ Hernandez and their father Dennis.

Dennis John “DJ” Hernandez was born on May 18, 1986, in Bristol, Connecticut, to Dennis and Terri Hernandez. DJ’s younger brother Aaron was born in 1989. Although the city of Bristol seemed like a nice place to grow up, DJ and Aaron’s home life was anything but idyllic.

As DJ wrote in his book: The Truth About Aaron: My Way to Understand My Brother (2018) Her father Dennis, a former football star at Bristol Central High, could brutally abuse his sons and his wife.

“We saw our father bang our mother’s head against the white sink over and over until she collapsed to the floor,” DJ recalled in his book.

Dennis also beat DJ and Aaron for all sorts of reasons, from bad grades to bad behavior to seemingly no reason at all. When DJ once threatened to call the authorities, his father mocked him. DJ recalled:

“He gave me the phone and then said, ‘Call them. As soon as you hang up, I’m going to beat you guys harder than you’ve ever been beaten before. They’re going to have to pull me away from you after they break down the door.'”

According to DJ, Aaron was also deeply scarred by another traumatic childhood experience. When DJ was nine and Aaron was six, DJ claims Aaron was abused by an older boy during a game of hide-and-seek. DJ was the first to publicly describe his brother’s abuse, but Aaron spoke privately with one of his lawyers about the tragic incident.

Hernandez familyAaron Hernandez as a boy. He was physically and sexually abused at a young age.

When DJ was 20 and Aaron was 16, their father died of a hernia during routine surgery. His story ended there, but Aaron Hernandez’s story – as a football star, as a convicted murderer, and as a tragedy – was just beginning.

Aaron Hernandez’s rise to fame – and his shocking downfall

University of FloridaAaron Hernandez at the University of Florida.

After DJ Hernandez graduated from high school, he attended the University of Connecticut, where he played football for five seasons. Aaron Hernandez originally planned to follow in his brother’s footsteps, but ultimately chose the University of Florida.

Aaron got into trouble while living in Florida – he ruptured a bartender’s eardrum in a dispute over a bar bill and was caught up in a double murder in 2007 – but his skills as a football player also caught the attention of the NFL. Despite concerns about his behavior and drug use, the New England Patriots drafted Aaron in the fourth round of the 2010 draft.

Ultimately, Aaron Hernandez performed so well on the football field that the Patriots signed him for $41 million in 2012.

Jeffrey Beall/Wikimedia CommonsAaron Hernandez played well for the Patriots, but his bright future in football came to a shocking end in 2013.

But behind the scenes, Aaron’s behavior became increasingly erratic. In his book, DJ Hernandez recalls a frightening moment after the Patriots won a playoff game in January 2012. Aaron was driving with DJ and several others when a police officer signaled the car to stop. Instead, Aaron hit the gas. DJ told him to stop, but Aaron kept speeding.

“Aaron ignored my words; it was like he was alone in the car,” DJ wrote. The incident left him wondering, “What’s wrong with my brother?”

DJ also noticed that Aaron was becoming increasingly paranoid. During a visit to Aaron’s house, DJ asked about a large knife on his nightstand.

“I sleep with it because people are after me,” Aaron told DJ. “I have it for my protection.” But who was after him? “Everyone. The FBI, everyone.”

Then, on June 26, 2013, Aaron was arrested for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Aaron had previously been friends with Lloyd, who was dating Aaron’s fiancée’s sister. But Aaron was also the last person seen with Lloyd before Lloyd was shot – and Lloyd’s body was found less than a mile from Aaron’s home.

Although Aaron Hernandez pleaded not guilty, he was eventually convicted of murder on April 15, 2015 and sentenced to life in prison.

While behind bars, Aaron Hernandez reportedly admitted something he had always denied to DJ: that he was gay. Then, about two years after his murder conviction (and just days after being acquitted in another murder case), Aaron Hernandez committed suicide in his prison cell. The once-promising football star was only 27 years old.

“My younger brother Aaron was far from perfect,” DJ Hernandez said in a statement after his brother’s death, “but I will always love him.”

DJ Hernandez’s own trouble with the law

YouTubeDJ Hernandez talks to Dr. Oz.

In the years following Aaron Hernandez’s death, DJ Hernandez – and the rest of the world – have tried to understand what happened to Aaron. One theory is that Aaron went into a downward spiral after his father died.

“That’s the million-dollar question, how would everything have changed if my father were still alive,” said DJ Sports illustrated in 2017. “I think it would have been completely different. But I don’t know. It’s a fairy tale.”

DJ, who went by Jonathan after his brother’s conviction, also later admitted that his brother suffered from a severe case of CTE, a brain disease that is common in football players, especially those who have taken multiple hits to the head. But Aaron didn’t just suffer injuries on the football field. DJ recalled Aaron injuring his head several times during his childhood, even just playing with friends.

“Many years later, I wonder,” wrote DJ Hernandez, “was this the first of many hits that affected my brother’s brain?”

Meanwhile, DJ is in serious trouble of his own. Before Aaron’s conviction, he was a college football coach and then started a roofing company. But in 2023, he was back in the news for a different, more disturbing reason. In March of this year, he was arrested twice for leading police in Connecticut on a “wild” chase.

Just weeks later, he was arrested again for throwing a brick at ESPN’s Bristol compound. He had left this note: “To all media, it is time for you to become aware of the impact of the media on all family members. Since you are a global leader, perhaps you could take the lead in how media and messages are delivered one brick at a time. Clean up! Sincerely, Dennis J. Hernandez.”

Later that same year, DJ Hernandez allegedly threatened to kill his estranged wife and her divorce lawyer. In July, he was arrested for this and also for allegedly planning school shootings. His ex-girlfriend told police he even drove to the UConn and Brown campuses to “map the schools for the shootings.” DJ also claimed he had “a bullet for everyone.”

Cheshire Police DepartmentMugshot of DJ Hernandez. He had several serious run-ins with the law in 2023.

Police later said DJ, who had tried to stay out of the spotlight, went through a serious mental health crisis after being identified as Aaron Hernandez’s brother. During his most recent arrest, he was caught on body camera footage begging police to shoot him.

In November 2023, DJ Hernandez pleaded not guilty to making death threats and causing a disturbance at ESPN. Only time will tell if he will be convicted of the charges against him.

He once wished he knew what happened to his brother, but unfortunately, DJ Hernandez seems to be solving his own problems as well.

After reading about DJ Hernandez, the troubled brother of Aaron Hernandez, learn about the tragic death of football star and American soldier Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. Or discover the true story of Rudy Ruettiger, the real-life football legend who inspired the movie “Rudy.”