Hernandez’s death is ruled a suicide

Aaron Hernandez’s death in prison has been ruled a suicide and the former NFL star’s brain is being donated to sports concussion researchers, Massachusetts authorities said.

The declaration by prosecutors, state police and public health officials came after a tumultuous day in which Hernandez’s lawyer suggested the state was mishandling the investigation and illegally withholding his brain after releasing the rest of the body to a funeral home.

Authorities said the medical examiner had ruled cause of death was asphyxia by hanging and that investigators had found three handwritten notes next to a Bible in Hernandez’s cell at the SouzaBaranowski Correctional Center in Shirley. Hernandez, a former tight end with the New England Patriots, was serving a life sentence without parole for the 2013 slaying of a onetime friend.

The man who fatally shot retired New Orleans Saints star Will Smith and wounded his wife after a traffic crash last year was sentenced to 25 years in prison for manslaughter, far less than the maximum New Orleans prosecutors had called for. Cardell Hayes, 29, faced up to 60 years if given consecutive maximum terms for manslaughter and attempted manslaughter, as prosecutors had urged. Instead, Judge Camille Buras gave him 15 years for shooting Racquel Smith in the legs, to be served at the same time.

Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio was taken to the hospital for observation after police found him without any pants on in a suburban Buffalo field. Erie County Sheriff ’s spokesman Scott Zylka said deputies were responding to a complaint of a suspicious person when they came upon Kouandjio around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Zylka said the player was cooperative in answering deputies’ questions, and added no charges have been filed.