The cousin of former New England Patriots star tight end Aaron Hernandez tells USA Today Sports “Carlos Ortiz” can’t “come back ‘hood” if he has indeed “snitched” on the one-time NFL star.
Affidavits used to conduct search warrants for residences connected to Hernandez in both Florida and Massachusetts indicate the 27-year-old Ortiz has been cooperating with police as they build their first-degree murder case against the 23-year-old Hernandez.
The bullet-riddled body of associate and semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd was found less than a mile from Hernandez’s North Attleborough home late last month. In one of the searches, clothing Hernandez was believed to be wearing the night Lloyd was killed was found in a “flop house” he was secretly renting. He has been held without bail since being taken into custody a few days later.
Now, Ortiz, who currently is being held on illegal possession of a firearm charge, apparently can’t go home either.
“He was one of us,” Jose Torres, Hernandez’s cousin told USA Today. “If you come back to the streets where everybody thinks you’re hard but you’re snitching… he’s done. You’re going to have another breaking news story on TV.”
New reports have indicated Ortiz told police he, Hernandez, Lloyd and Ernest Wallace were all riding together on the night in question. Hernandez and Lloyd had a beef, he said, but they shook hands and made up. When the car stopped, the other three men got out to urinate and Ortiz claims he heard gun shots.
Ortiz added Hernandez and Wallace quickly ran back to the car, and Hernandez sped off. Though he admits he never saw who fired the gun, he told investigators Wallace later told him Hernandez had.
"That's my cousin and I love him, but he got caught up with the wrong people and they used him," Torres told USA Today. "If he thinks you're his friend, he's going to go all out for you. He has a good heart, but he's not very smart."
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