Hernandez family issues first public statement since death of brother Aaron

Ledyard High School football coach Jonathan Hernandez, the older brother of former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, issued the family's first public statement on Tuesday since his brother's death on April 15.

"From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone who has supported my mother and me during such difficult times," Jonathan Hernandez said in a release sent to various news outlets. "My younger brother Aaron was far from perfect, but I will always love him. Many stories about my brother's life have been shared with the public — except the story Aaron was brave enough to share with our mother and me.

"It's the one story he wanted us to share with the world. It is Aaron's truth."

There was no further comment about when that story will be shared.

Jonathan Hernandez is in first season as Ledyard's head coach.

Aaron Hernandez was found dead in a Massachusetts prison cell in what police ruled a suicide. Police said three notes were left behind for his loved ones.

Hernandez, who starred at Bristol Central High School and the University of Florida before joining the Patriots, was serving a life sentence for the 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd.

His death came only days after he was acquitted in a double murder case in Boston.