National Football League

Aaron Hernandez's brain will be donated for CTE research

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

Aaron Hernandez’s family has decided to donate his brain to medical researchers, his lawyer, Jose Baez, said at a press conference Thursday.

The Hernandez family would like the brain to go to Boston University’s CTE research project, though Baez alleges that the medical examiner is “illegally retaining possession” of the brain.

CTE is a degenerative brain disease believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. It has been diagnosed in NFL players, NHL players and professional wrestlers. The disease, which symptoms include memory loss, mood swings and violent behavior, can only be diagnosed after a person’s death.

Hernandez was found early Wednesday morning hung in his jail cell at Souza Correctional Center in Massachusetts, where he was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd. He was found not guilty last week in the 2012 double murder of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.